THE VIEW'S BOXING REVIEW
JUNE
If his performance in his comeback fight after 13 months on Saturday night (June 21st) is anything to go by, it hasn't.
Yoshihiro Kamegai, his choice of opponent after his hiatus, boasted a 24-1-1 (21 knockouts) record coming in, but little was known of the man from Japan aside from the fact that he evidently carried a worthwhile punch. Guerrero never allowed his opponent to test that punch on his chin in the first round, staying busy with the jab and the one-twos, but in the second round the pair of combatants started sticking together as if by glue - and they seldom deviated from that phone booth style of brawling for the remainder of the fight.
Kamegai was forcing Guerrero, a former world title holder at Featherweight and Super-Featherweight (along with interim titles at 140 and 147 lb) to work at a frantic pace, but didn't have any really clear-cut success until the fourth, which he punctuated with a beautiful left-right combination to Guerrero's head. The more experienced Guerrero, showing some expert skills in fighting off the ropes, took the fifth, but Kamegai landed some hurtful shots at the fight neared its half-way point -
and by the end of the sixth Guerrero's left eye (no newcomer to this) had swelled terribly, to the point where he was staring back at his opponent through little more than a slit.
Guerrero rebounded to boss the seventh and eighth, making good use of what little space was available to utilise his superior jab and greater punch variety - while both were open to a constant torrent of uppercuts, the former Mayweather victim was generally showing greater poise and accuracy in attacking the body and stepping around the attacks of his opponents every now and then with some deceptively crafty footwork.
When Kamegai seemed to be wilting in the face of some excellent body hooking in close by Guerrero in a wonderful ninth round, the fight seemed to have turned inexorably against him, but he rallied brilliantly to get the better of the tenth and eleventh, rounds in which both men were clearly running on little more than fumes. However, Guerrero wasn't to be denied and produced a true champion's response in the twelfth, taking the initiative
By Chris Williamson
The Ghost Returns As Lomachenko Makes History
When Robert Guerrero slipped out of boxing's conscience after losing to pound for pound king Floyd Mayweather in May 2013, many wondered if the amiable Mexican-American would ever be seen in a ring again.
His future secured by a $3 million guarantee (before pay-per-view revenue had been added, no less) from the Mayweather bout and a family to whom he is devoted, it was suspected by some that his hunger for the game was probably gone.
Photos Courtesy Of Chris Farina/Top Rank