lpinoy
11-30-2010, 03:30 AM
C/P
By Lem Satterfield
Robert Guerrero watched from ringside on Saturday night as WBO and WBA lightweight (135 pounds) champion Juan Manuel Marquez rose from a third-round knockdown to score a ninth-round knockout over WBO interim king Michael Katsidis in an HBO televised, Golden Boy Promotions clash at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
A former two-time IBF featherweight (126 pounds) and one-time IBF super featherweight (130 pounds) titlist, Guerrero (28-1-1, 18 knockouts) is the mandatory challenger to the WBO belt of Marquez (51-5-1, 38 KOs). As such, Guerrero is anxious to put his 12-fight winning streak that includes nine stoppages on the line against Marquez, who is 10 years his senior at 37 years old.
A southpaw, Guerrero last suffered defeat by a December, 2005 split-decision to Gamaliel Diaz, whom Guerrero stopped in the sixth round of their June, 2006 rematch. Moreover, Guerrero has dominated his past two bouts, scoring two knockdowns in November's unanimous decision over Vicente Escobedo (22-3, 14 knockouts), and, himself, rising from a final-round knockdown during July's unanimous decision rout of former four-time world champion and Cuban Olympic gold medalist Joel Casamayor (37-5-1, 22 KOs).
In this Q&A, Guerrero talks about his quest to face Marquez, even as Marquez is seeking a third bout opposite eight-division king and WBO welterweight (147 pounds) and WBC junior middleweight (154 pounds) king Manny Pacquiao (52-3-2, 38 KOs), a southpaw who is promoted by rival Top Rank Promotions and with whom Marquez battled to a draw, and, lost a disputed decision, respectively, in May of 2004, and, March of 2008.
FanHouse: What was your impression of Juan Manuel Marquez's performance against Michael Katsidis?
Robert Guerrero: Man, I saw a tremendous, tremendous boxing display from Marquez. With the amount of pressure that was on him? I mean, he did an incredible job with controlling his distance and how on target he was with his punches.
He did an excellent job in there. He didn't surprise me, though. It's never surprising to see the way that Marquez comes out. You know, I think that the one thing with Marquez is that whatever the level of talent and competition, he steps up to the plate.
Marquez is a gamer, and he steps up to the plate and swings. It doesn't surprise me that he got Katsidis out of there, but you know, it's exciting to see how he performs every fight. It just seems like he gets better and better.
It excites me because I'm the mandatory, and, you know, that's going to be an awesome challenge to get ready for that.
Were you surprised that Juan Manuel Marquez got knocked down?
Yeah, I was kind of surprised by that, because in the first round, he handled that round with ease. I don't even know how much or if he got hit that often in that round with a shot. I just think that he got caught, and maybe he got a little too comfortable in that round.
You know, the first two or three rounds, those are major. So it was surprising to see him get caught and to go down like that. Especially the way that he went down flat on his back.
By Lem Satterfield
Robert Guerrero watched from ringside on Saturday night as WBO and WBA lightweight (135 pounds) champion Juan Manuel Marquez rose from a third-round knockdown to score a ninth-round knockout over WBO interim king Michael Katsidis in an HBO televised, Golden Boy Promotions clash at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
A former two-time IBF featherweight (126 pounds) and one-time IBF super featherweight (130 pounds) titlist, Guerrero (28-1-1, 18 knockouts) is the mandatory challenger to the WBO belt of Marquez (51-5-1, 38 KOs). As such, Guerrero is anxious to put his 12-fight winning streak that includes nine stoppages on the line against Marquez, who is 10 years his senior at 37 years old.
A southpaw, Guerrero last suffered defeat by a December, 2005 split-decision to Gamaliel Diaz, whom Guerrero stopped in the sixth round of their June, 2006 rematch. Moreover, Guerrero has dominated his past two bouts, scoring two knockdowns in November's unanimous decision over Vicente Escobedo (22-3, 14 knockouts), and, himself, rising from a final-round knockdown during July's unanimous decision rout of former four-time world champion and Cuban Olympic gold medalist Joel Casamayor (37-5-1, 22 KOs).
In this Q&A, Guerrero talks about his quest to face Marquez, even as Marquez is seeking a third bout opposite eight-division king and WBO welterweight (147 pounds) and WBC junior middleweight (154 pounds) king Manny Pacquiao (52-3-2, 38 KOs), a southpaw who is promoted by rival Top Rank Promotions and with whom Marquez battled to a draw, and, lost a disputed decision, respectively, in May of 2004, and, March of 2008.
FanHouse: What was your impression of Juan Manuel Marquez's performance against Michael Katsidis?
Robert Guerrero: Man, I saw a tremendous, tremendous boxing display from Marquez. With the amount of pressure that was on him? I mean, he did an incredible job with controlling his distance and how on target he was with his punches.
He did an excellent job in there. He didn't surprise me, though. It's never surprising to see the way that Marquez comes out. You know, I think that the one thing with Marquez is that whatever the level of talent and competition, he steps up to the plate.
Marquez is a gamer, and he steps up to the plate and swings. It doesn't surprise me that he got Katsidis out of there, but you know, it's exciting to see how he performs every fight. It just seems like he gets better and better.
It excites me because I'm the mandatory, and, you know, that's going to be an awesome challenge to get ready for that.
Were you surprised that Juan Manuel Marquez got knocked down?
Yeah, I was kind of surprised by that, because in the first round, he handled that round with ease. I don't even know how much or if he got hit that often in that round with a shot. I just think that he got caught, and maybe he got a little too comfortable in that round.
You know, the first two or three rounds, those are major. So it was surprising to see him get caught and to go down like that. Especially the way that he went down flat on his back.