Calling ‘The Ghost’ a brawler or dirty is an unfit description. The ‘The Ghost’ is a technician

By Boxing News - 01/04/2013 - Comments

guerrero1234By Hector Gonzalez: I see many fans dismissing ‘The Ghost’ Guerrero claiming that he’s a brawler and that he fights dirty. What these comments about Robert Guerrero lead me to believe is that many of these “boxing fans” are unfamiliar with Robert Guerrero’s career and most likely have only seen him fight against Andre Berto, what I would challenge these fans commenting is to observe Guerrero’s career and understand why he is a full technical fighter who quickly adapts in the ring and fights with multidimensional skills.

First and foremost people have to take a close look at the Berto fight and understand what the difference between ‘making it a dirty fight’ vs ‘fighting dirty ’. A dirty fight is a toe-to- toe fight that includes constant pressure, these fights are referred to as dirty fights because usually the fighters are bloodied, sweaty, and the fights become gruesome and sometimes using unconventional techniques. ‘Fighting dirty’ is a completely different subject, fighting dirty includes rabbit punches, hitting below the belt, punching on a break, intentional head bunt.. etc. Fans need to be able to make that distinction before calling Guerrero ‘a dirty fighter’.

I do agree that Guerrero should have been warned for walking in with his head, but that’s also up to Berto to avoid by using his jab and maneuvering him like a matador and continuing to cut the ring. Also some of these fans seem to forget that Berto was doing most of the holding while also punching Guerrero in the back of head. It’s about how many tricks you have up your sleeve and quiet frankly Guerrero had more. What we recall most from the fight was Guerrero’s inside game, but take note of how even at a distance Guerrero was able to stumble Berto with crisp left shots from the outside.

Another note I want to add to this point is address the comments regarding Guerrero holding Berto’s head while punching him with his free left hand. Berto is actually holding onto Guerrero’s right hand (look closely).

What these fans should do is watch Guerrero vs Katsidis, Casamayor & Escabedo. All three fights are boxing clinics in Guerrero’s part. Guerrero could have also fought his mandatory challenger in Juan Manuel Marquez, it’s actually commonly assumed that Marquez avoided a fight with Guerrero. Amir Khan was also offered a fight with Robert Guerrero at 140 that Golden Boy was in favor of setting up, it’s also commonly assumed that Amir Khan avoided Robert Guerrero.

Just for the record, what I hope that these fans know is that before moving to welterweight, ‘The Ghost’ was known for being a technician who could also fight as a boxer/puncher…. He was actually known for that… What he was not known for was being an inside fighter.



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