KEITH THURMAN VS ROBERT GUERRERO – A POTENTIAL WELTERWEIGHT WAR
By Andreas Georgiou
EVER since Haymon’s split from Oscar De La Hoya and Golden Boy Promotion’s, boxing fans couldn’t help but think that 2015 would be a huge year for the new boys in town.
Adviser and manager, it was clear immediately that Haymon retained the services of pretty much all the clinical names once shared with GBP, all he needed was a battle plan.
With the birth of Premier Boxing Champions on January 14, 2015 it’s obvious Haymon isn’t playing around, seen with the “airtime” he has purchased on major American networks such as NBC, Spike TV and CBS.
PBC kicks its first event off with a huge headline WBA welterweight championship fight on Saturday, March 7. Keith “One Time” Thurman (24-0, 1NC) defends his title against Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero (32-2-1) on the NBC network.
Out of his 23 wins, Thurman owns 21 before the final bell, which is a testament over guys like Diego Gabriel Chaves and Julio Díaz. The Florida born fighter brings a dominating and powerful style, which even his opponent Guerrero has shown respect to in the build up.
“The Ghost” has had a rather inactive couple of years, after falling to Floyd Mayweather, Jr. in May 2013 has only fought once since. Yes, the Mayweather fight was huge for Guerrero’s career, and yes, he quite simply was unable to utilise his inside style on the pound-for-pound best.
It’s no secret the 31 year-old loves to get on the inside and tie his opponent up, landing within the clinch, but against the best defensive boxer of this generation, he looked helpless.
He returned over a year later to face Japan’s Yoshihiro Kamegai, picking up the unanimous decision, but it wasn’t without struggle. Although Guerrero pretty much coasted for most of the fight, the tough Kamegai targeted the left eye of the southpaw, which by the end of the fight clearly became a problem for him.
Thurman’s power is something Guerrero must be very wary of, if fighting on the inside is what the challenger expects to do without peril, then it may be a long night. Thurman will look to force the former WBC Interim welterweight champion to fight at range, which will benefit “One Time” who will have more space to unload with his brutal shots.
I feel Guerrero may have his hands full with an elite striker like Thurman, but if he can slow the pace of the fight down, and systematically land his shots on the inside then he may see success.
However I see Thurman as too much for him on the night.
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