Mark Sept. 16 on your calendars. It could very well be your last
chance to see Gilroy
’s Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero in his “best kept secret in
boxing” guise.
Mark Sept. 16 on your calendars. It could very well be your last chance to see Gilroy’s Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero in his “best kept secret in boxing” guise.
Guerrero’s fight in a fortnight at the Palace Indian Gaming Center in Lemoore is likely to be his last place-holder bout as NABF featherweight champ. His opponent on Sept. 16 is to be determined, and while the Ghost’s NABF belt will be on the line, Guerrero’s camp reports it’s highly unlikely his foe will be another top featherweight contender.
The good news is, the Ghost’s road to the top is getting clearer. After a bummer of a summer that saw the Ghost nursing an elbow injury which caused a proposed July fight in San Francisco to be junked, Guerrero has watched as his path to a WBC featherweight title bout has become smoother with each passing day.
The Garlic City southpaw now sits at No. 4 in the World Boxing Council rankings for 126-pounders. Above him, former featherweight heavies Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera and Manny Pacquiao have moved up to 130 lbs. At the same time, once-golden Juan Manuel Marquez has lost some luster after two tepid points wins and a change in management. And when a title bout between 2000 Olympics silver medalist Rocky Juarez and injured WBC champ In Jin Chi of South Korea was called off, Juarez promptly lost to Humberto Soto.
For Guerrero, all of this turmoil – in a division that until recently had a surfeit of exciting potential matchups – means he’s suddenly as hot a featherweight commodity as there is for the promoters and TV folks.
You better believe a convincing win on Sept. 16 will translate into a WBC, or possibly IBF title fight before the year is out.
Meanwhile, a source in the Ghost’s camp reports that Guerrero recently gained valuable experience sparring with the explosive Pacquiao and 122-lb. champ Israel Vasquez … and was very sharp, according to observers. So not only is the Ghost’s path to glory straightening out much faster than expected, all signs indicate he’ll be more than ready to capitalize when it does.
nThey’ve been called the name jokingly for years, but the New Orleans Saints really are the Ain’ts now … as in ain’t got a home. That’s the angle on the Hurricane Katrina aftermath from the sporting perspective, anyway.
Obviously, where an NFL team plays is one of the least important questions in this unfolding tragedy. Still, folks from New Orleans love their Saints, and you can bet some good old “Who Dat?” cheer following Saints wins in the coming weeks will do something to buck up the spirits of people who have lost everything.
Die-hard Raiders and Niners fans could certainly pick a worse second team to root for this year.
nWow, football really is back. “Zero Week” has come and gone, and local stars Dustin Muhn and Justin Sweeney are back and putting on quite the show for us. Live Oak’s Muhn and Gilroy’s Sweeney should contend with each other for the TCAL rushing title this year, as their teams vie for a spot in the Central Coast Section playoffs.
Surely that’s enough to satisfy all you pigskin junkies.
But if you’re looking for even more upside to the beginning of football season, consider all the extra stress and strain the late game nights put on us slimy media people.
So, hey, you got that going for you, too.
