Welterweights on the comeback trail

By Gavin Duthie - 05/23/2014 - Comments

guerrero211By Gav Duthie: On the 21st June, 2014 California hosts the comeback fights of ex world champions Devon Alexander 25-2 (14) and forgotten Welterweight Robert ‘The Ghost’ Guerrero 31-2-1 (18). Although these two will share the same ring they won’t be fighting each other as they ease their way back to top level action on the undercard of Gary Russell Jnr 24-0 (14) v Vasyl Lomachenko 1-1 (1). 

A fight between the two would have been of decent interest but its fair to say they both have stern challenges in front of them and can’t afford to be complacent. Devon takes on Jesus Soto Karass 28-9-3 (18) whilst The Ghost entertains  Yoshihiro Kamegai 24-1-1 (21). Devon is coming off a lost to Shawn Porter at the back end of last year whilst Guerrero has been out for 13 months since his loss to Floyd Mayweather. Its hard to say who has the bigger test here. Obviously statistically Kamegai looks better but Karass has been fighting top level fighters for quite some time now and surprised a few. 

Devon Alexander v Jesus Soto Karass

This is the most interesting fight for me. I see Soto Karass as a kind of gatekeeper to the top level. I imagine him standing as a bouncer to the ‘world class welterweight nightclub’ and he’s saying “if you can beat me up you can get in but if not your going nowhere”. Despite having 9 defeats to his name I respect guys like him because what you see is what you get. He doesn’t have a padded 25-0 record with nobody on it. He fights top guys every time, most of the time he loses but has sprung a few upsets. If you are not 100% focused he can do some damage to your career. He stopped Andre Berto in the final round a couple of fights ago and rocked Keith Thurman in the 1st round in his last bout before going on to be stopped in the 9th.  

I’m still not 100% sure how good Alexander is. He really struggled with the aggression and pressure of Shawn Porter in his last outing. I thought the same against Bradley. Tim didn’t box his usual style, he didn’t give Alexander any time and space. There were a lot of head clashes and Devon didn’t seem to want to scrap it out. Conversely Alexander has victories over two of the best pressure fighters in the business. He has beaten argentine duo Marcos Maidana, who hardly laid a glove on him, and has a close split decision win over Lucas Matthyse. This would suggest that he can handle pressure fighters. 

Alexander’s poor performance last time out may be attributed to a frustrating 2013. In the early part of the year he had 3 dates for fights with IBF mandatory challenger Kell Brook cancelled due to injuries to both fighters. As a result his first fight in 6 months was against, well out of his depth, Lee Purdy 20-5-1 (13) in a bout that resembled a sparring session. Then a big fight with Amir Khan fell through at the end of the year as Khan opted to wait for Mayweather. As a result its entirely possible that he didn’t focus fully on the threat of Shawn Porter. He needs to be fully focused now. 

Robert Guerrero v Yoshihiro Kamegai

At the start of 2013 Robert Guerrero was the big thing at welterweight. After his win over previously undefeated Selcuk Aydin and his beat down of Andre Berto many tipped him to beat Floyd Mayweather. After his defeat to the no 1 pound for pound ‘The Ghost’ has lived up to his name and never been seen since. 

Guerrero had problems with his contract at Goldenboy Promotions and tried to leave. As a result his June fight will be over a year since his last outing. He has since signed up to be managed by Al Haymon and is eager to resume his career. His opponent Yoshihiro Kamegai is relatively unknown. His record looks good with only 1 defeat to date and 21 ko’s from 24 victories shows he has more power than the average Asian fighter. On the flip side he has only fought three times outside his native Japan with his record standing at 1-1-1 (1). His loss came in a lopsided unanimous decision at the hands of Johan Perez 19-1-1 (13). Perez is also responsible for ending the 49 fight unbeaten run of Paul Spadafora. With this in mind it is not a terrible loss but fighting Guerrero is another big step up. 

Again with Guerrero i’m not entirely sure how good he is. Two of his best wins came against Andre Berto 28-3 (22) and Selcuk Aydin 26-3 (19). Both opponents have subsequently went on to lose to Jesus Soto Karass. Just last weekend Aydin was beaten for a third time when he was knocked out by Ukrainian prospect Viktor Postol 26-0 (11). Guerrero is a real battler and very strong, he puts his opponents under lots of pressure but he doesn’t have huge knockout power. He hasn’t stopped anyone in over 4 years and his wins over the likes of Joel Casamayor and Michael Katsidis maybe came past heir prime. He’s great to watch but does he have the strength and power to bully opponents at 147?

I expect both Alexander and Guerrero to come through these fights next month. I’m not sure either fighter has the power to stop their opponent but either way they could both do with 12 rounds of competitive action. As long they both win it is highly likely that they could face each other at the back end of the 2014. If this is the case I think the winner of that fight could go on to become a world champion again and my money would be on Alexander. 



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