Guerrero out to cash in as welterweight
Robert Guerrero has found a home and doesn’t plan on leaving anytime soon.
The WBC interim welterweight champion likes life at 147 pounds after spending most of the past four years as a lightweight. And as he prepares to defend his title Nov. 24 against former world champion Andre Berto in Ontario, Calif., Guerrero wants to cash in on what is one of boxing’s most competitive and lucrative weight classes.
“I’m willing to fight anyone – (Floyd) Mayweather. (Manny) Pacquiao. It doesn’t matter,” Guerrero said last week. “All the big-money fights are at 147, and I’m just letting everyone know there’s a new sheriff in town.”
Guerrero (30-1-1, 18 knockouts) moved to 147 from 135 last summer and won the WBC interim title with a 12-round decision over Selcuk Aydin on July 28 in San Jose, Calif. He doesn’t see himself going back to 135, or even 140.
“I love 147,” Guerrero said. “I feel so much stronger. I can eat whatever I want, and I haven’t lost any of my speed and quickness. I wish I had done it sooner.”
Guerrero admits it’s out of character for him to call other fighters out. But, he says, if that’s what it takes to get a fight, so be it.
He especially has tried to provoke Mayweather Jr., the WBC welterweight champ, chiding him on Twitter for the past few months. But Mayweather has other social media battles at the moment, namely his feud with former friend and business partner 50 Cent.
“I wanted to let him know I’m here to fight the best,” Guerrero said. “I felt I had to step outside my own box and start talking.”
But while he hopes Mayweather is in his future, Guerrero first must deal with the present. He respects Berto (28-1, 22 KOs), who was supposed to fight Victor Ortiz last spring but flunked a prefight drug test for nandrolone, an anabolic steroid, and hasn’t fought in 14 months.
If Guerrero beats Berto and can’t get a fight with Mayweather, he’ll turn his attention to Timothy Bradley. The two were close to an agreement this month.
“I’d love to fight Bradley,” Guerrero said. “But first things first. I have to beat a very good fighter in Berto.”
■ ON THE DOCKET – SMS Promotions, 50 Cent’s newly formed company, will be on Thursday’s Nevada Athletic Commission agenda as the rap star applies for his promoter’s license.
SMS promotes world featherweight champion Yuriorkis Gamboa, who will fight Miguel Beltran Jr. on the undercard of the Dec. 8 Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez main event at the MGM Grand Garden. 50 Cent, whose given name is Curtis Jackson, is expected to appear at the meeting.
■ LAUGHLIN CARD – Sterling McPherson will promote a fight card Saturday at Edgewater Casino in Laughlin, with lightweights Robert Osiobe (13-5-4, six KOs) and Pipino Cuevas Jr. (16-8, 14 KOs) meeting in the 10-round main event. Seven bouts are scheduled for the card.
■ TOP RANK HONORED – Longtime Top Rank publicity man Lee Samuels, assistant Ricardo Jimenez and office staffer Angie Jackson will be honored today in Los Angeles with induction into the WBC Legends of Boxing Museum. Samuels has worked 27 years for Top Rank.
Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.