Gilroy’s Guerrero retires after 16 years
Robert Guerrero said it himself. He didn’t want to be a “gatekeeper,” a former champ used to open doors for younger fighters.
So, two days after he was knocked down five times in a loss, the Gilroy welterweight nicknamed “The Ghost” made the smart decision and disappeared, retiring after 16 years. Guerrero (33-6-1, 18 knockouts) won six world titles in four weight classes.
“I want to thank God for allowing me to have a wonderful career,” said Guerrero, 34. “I’m a kid from a small town in Gilroy who made it to the mountaintop of the boxing world. When I was a young kid, I always believed in myself, but never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined a small-town kid like myself would be fighting in front of millions of fans.”
The former featherweight and juniorlightweight champ’s biggest win came in a slugfest against Andre Berto in November 2012 as he retained the WBC interim welterweight title in a unanimous decision.
Guerrero next fought Floyd Mayweather Jr. for the welterweight title and his biggest payday. Guerrero lost in a one-sided decision, the first of five losses in his final seven fights.
He got pummeled in a title match against Keith Thurman, and Guerrero said he learned his lesson. He would not go straight ahead against former lightweight champ Omar Figueroa Jr. on Saturday in Uniondale, N.Y.
But Guerrero went down fighting in close range, exchanging punches with Figueroa, the bigger fighter. Guerrero was knocked down five times before the bout was stopped in the third round.
At 5-foot-8, Guerrero fought as light as 122 pounds before he finished at the 147pound class, wearing his heart on his chin, and that made for exciting fights — if not the results he wanted.
“A boxer’s career is a long and tough road,” he said. “Many tears were shed, lots of blood and tons of sweat. Nothing was ever given to me. I never ducked anyone, and fought the best fighters in the world.”
He put his family first, choosing not to defend his junior lightweight belt in 2009 when his wife, Casey, had cancer. He took care of her and their kids until she got better, and he returned to the ring the next year.
“I want to thank all the fans and the community who stuck by my side when my wife was battling cancer,” he said. “I will never forget the love you showed.”