Robert Guerrero returns to face Selcuk Aydin
Gilroy, Calif.’s hometown hero Robert “The Ghost” Guerreo is back to working at his full-time job, that of being one of the sport’s undeniable world champions.
Crazy or what? After a 15-month layoff and a jump up in weight from lightweight to welterweight (135 lbs. to 147 lbs.) you, one Robert Guerrero, being of sound mind, decide to fight a 23-0, undefeated welterweight champion who goes by the handle of “The Turkish Warrior” for the Interim WBC Welterweight title. Over the past 11 plus years, you have to admit Robert Guerrero has given this sport more than his fair share of interesting, intriguing story lines.
Al Bernstein, the newly inducted member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame, said the 29-year-old Guerrero may be the more skilled of the two fighters, but also added, “The jump up in weight and injury induced layoff (this will be Guerrero’s first bout since April of 2011, following surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff suffered while training for a bout with Marcos Maidana) could make Guerrero vulnerable. Aydin is a powerful puncher and very aggressive.”
In between workouts, the unbeaten 28-year-old native of Trabzon, Turkey, Selcuk Aydin, poses for a photo for his upcoming fight against Robert Guerrero on Saturday, July 28, 2012.
Aydin is undefeated with 17 knockouts in 23 fights. Though technically unbeaten, the 28-year-old native of Trabzon, Turkey, has two highly disputed wins over Ionut Dan Ion, “Jo Jo Dan”, both of which took place in his home country, one in his hometown. Some believe Dan won both. As they say, “Whatever!” Aydin did knock Jo Jo Dan off his feet three times and in their rematch, he did break his jaw. Amongst his other wins, he has victories over Said Ouali and Jackson Bonsu.
Guerrero, a champion at featherweight and junior lightweight, and fighting in the sixth weight division of his 11-year pro career will be fighting for the first time since defeating Michael Katsidis on April 9, 2011. As mentioned, Guerrero was set to face Marcos Maidana at 140 in August, but with his injured his shoulder and thesurgery it took to repair a torn rotator cuff, he had to bow out.
Guerrero’s first world title came in September 2006, when he stopped Eric Aiken after eight rounds of domination to lift the IBF belt. Looking to be a sound choice for a long-term stint at the top, Guerrero promptly lost his next fight to Orlando Salido and was somewhat overwhelmed by the veteran. That result was overturned after it was discovered Salido had failed a post-fight drug test, a situation reminiscent of the Marvin Valero versus Antonio De Marco clash.
With the same title vacant, Guerrero defeated Spend Abazi to secure the belt, and had another good run before a fight in March 2009, when he quit due to a cut in the second round against Daud Yordan. It was a decision that was met with skepticism since Guerrero didn’t give his corner a chance to work on the cut, which to be fair, looked extremely bad.
Later that year, Guerrero won the IBF super featherweight title with a solid win over Malcolm Klassen. The, in 2010, he went 3-0 with wins over Roberto David Arrieta, Joel Casamayor, and Vicente Escobedo. As mentioned his last fight was in April 2011 when he beat Katsidis. He hasn’t fought since.
The Guerrero’s other fight:
What has unfortunately dominated much of Guerrero’s last five years has been his wife’s battle with cancer. Diagnosed with leukemia in 2007, the cancer eventually spread to her brain. As documented in this brief Showtime video, an angelic marrow donor ended up saving her life. Now that his wife’s health and his injuries have cleared up, Guerrero is back to work.
Boxer Robert Guerrero and wife battle against cancer
Addendum: In regards to their 12 round fight that went the distance at the HP Pavillion, San Jose, Calif. and aired on Showtime Championship Boxing on July 28, 2012: the 145¾ lb. Guerrero ended up beating Selcuk Aydin 146½ lbs. by a unanimous decision. Judge Max DeLuca scored the bout 116-112, Judge Mark Green 116-112 and Judge Michael Tate 117-111, all for Guerrero.
Guerrero rode a high work rate with crisp combination punching to put rounds in the bank against Aydin, who landed some heavy shots, but often relied on a single power punch and did not throw enough punches to earn the judges’ favor.
Guerrero clearly controlled the first three rounds until Aydin finally began to land his signature right hand through the middle rounds. He also stung Guerrero with some solid uppercuts on the inside. Aydin’s strongest round was the tenth round when he out landed Guerrero 27 to 12 and connected with a good body shot plus a short right. Guerrero then rallied over the last two rounds and, aside from a big overhand right in the 11th round, avoided the bulk of Aydin’s closing attacks.
