guerrero45 (Photo credit: Stephanie Trapp) By Dan Ambrose: Welterweight Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero is putting the finishing touches on his training camp for his March 7th fight against WBA welterweight champion Keith Thurman at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. The fight will be televised on NBC as part of the “Premier Boxing Champions” series.

Guerrero expects the fight to be a war with the two of them trading power shots from start to finish. If this is the case then it’s going to be a huge departure from Thurman’s last fight against Leonard Bundu. In that fight, Thurman ran from Bundu for 12 rounds in winning a dull 12 round decision.

If this fight is going to be a war as Guerrero is hoping it’ll be, he might have to trap Thurman against the ropes to force him to trade, because Thurman’s natural inclination is to retreat while throwing left hooks when his opponents attempt to initiate any offense. Even in the fights that Thurman has won by knockout, he tends to back off immediately when his opponents attempt to land shots.

Thurman doesn’t stand in the pocket like Floyd Mayweather Jr or Manny Pacquiao. Either his defense isn’t good enough or his chin. One of them causes Thurman to back off and move into the retreat mode when he has guy that is looking to land shots. In that respect, he’s a lot like Amir Khan.

“I’m very happy that the fight is right around the corner. I’m looking forward to giving fans a great night in boxing. A lot of big shots are going to be thrown from my end,” Guerrero said. “I know Keith Thurman is training hard and so am I. This fight is going to be a war and I’m looking forward to it.”

I don’t think this fight is going to be a war at all unless Guerrero can cut off the ring and force Thurman to trade shots with him. Thurman obviously is going to want to trade with Guerrero initially to shoot down all the criticism that he received for running from the 40-year-old Bundu in his last fight.

I suspect that once Thurman takes a few head shots from Guerrero; he’s going to change his mind about wanting to stay in the trenches with him. At that point I see Thurman getting on his bike and using the same fighting style that he employed against Bundu.

“Training camp is wrapping up and my body feels great. This is one of the best camps I’ve had in a very long time and the fans can count on me being at peak performance on fight night,” Guerrero said. “I can’t wait to show the world and everybody watching on NBC what I’m all about. March 7 can’t come soon enough. I’m ready to go!”

It’s going to be very difficult for Guerrero to win this fight because Thurman is going to stay mobile for the full 12 rounds. I suspect that Guerrero will lose the fight, but win the war in terms of getting out of the fight with his head still held high. As long as Guerrero shows that he’s willing to trade and brawl, he’ll not lose any fans even if he gets beaten.

The one who will likely lose fans is Thurman if he chooses to run again. Thurman needs to brawl in this fight to win back the fans he lost from the last time he fought, but I don’t think he’s capable of doing that.

Tickets for the Guerrero-Thurman fight are priced at $400, $300, $100 and $50, not including applicable service charges and taxes, are on sale now. Tickets can be bought by calling (800) 745-3000. Tickets can also be purchased at www.mgmgrand.com or www.ticketmaster.com.