Robert "The Ghost" Guerrero will look to claim a title for the third time in his career Aug. 22, when he takes on South Africa's Malcolm Klassen for the IBF junior lightweight championship in Houston.
The closer it gets, the more Robert "The Ghost" Guerrero wants it.
Climbing back to the status of champion has taken longer than Guerrero expected, but the Gilroy native, who relinquished his IBF featherweight title more than a year ago to move up a weight class and was forced to take time off due to a dispute with his former promoter, says he isn't about to be preoccupied with anything but winning when opportunity knocks.
An Aug. 22 title fight against IBF junior lightweight champion Malcolm Klassen (24-4-2, 14 KOs) has Guerrero once again leaving the comfy confines of his hometown to be isolated in training. Preparing in Los Angeles for his last bout, an eighth-round stoppage of Efren Hinojosa in June, Guerrero (24-1-1, 17 KOs) will be spending the next five weeks in the mountains of Big Bear, Calif. before flying directly to Houston the week of the fight.
The plan is to "get out there in camp, work hard, work on everything," Guerrero said. "Just making those sacrifices and being prepared like I was last fight."
Trying to shake off rust in his last fight after spending just 12 rounds in the ring in more than two years - as well as silence critics after a second-round no-contest in March allowed some to label him a quitter after not continuing with a deep cut - Guerrero knows this bout, his third title shot, is a make-or-break stepping stone in his career. A new belt could set up unification bouts or possibly even bigger fights at the lightweight division.
"We were looking to get the (Juan) Diaz fight and that fell through," Guerrero said. "I have a good promotional team, management team - take care of this fight and it's all right there."
Diaz has refused to fight Guerrero several times, according to Guerrero's co-manager Bob Santos. He will be taking on Paul Malignaggi in the main event of the Aug. 22 card, which will be broadcast on HBO's Boxing After Dark series.
Guerrero said the choice of Big Bear as a training site is three-fold. He wants to spar against the best, and "Sugar" Shane Mosley, the current WBA welterweight titleholder, owns a property there and will be one of Guerrero's four sparring partners. Another advantage of the locale is the high elevation.
"You're in way better shape, so when you come down to sea level you can breathe for days," Guerrero said.
The last reason is a lack of distractions. Guerrero compared the area to San Martin.
"All it is boxing. It ain't no big city like Los Angeles, where you're driving around everywhere ... It's a little town and all it is boxing, training."
Klassen will present a tough challenge for Guerrero, but the same could be said about what the Gilroy native will be offering the South African champ. Guerrero has already been watching film on his opponent, and while he noted Klassen's fitness and active hands, he added that there are areas he can exploit.
"He's got a pretty solid jab, a lot of speed on the inside with his flurries, but he has a lot of flaws in him and we're going to take advantage of him. We've seen a lot of stuff we're going to capitalize on," Guerrero said.
Josh Koehn Josh Koehn is a sports writer for South Valley Newspapers. He can be reached at: jkoehn@svnewspapers.com.
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