Former featherweight champion Robert Guerrero is getting ready to return to the ring and make an appearance on ESPN2 for Friday Night Fights. Once again he will be fighting out of his hometown of San Jose. I spoke with him about his expectations for the fight as well as his last performance.
Your opponent just changed, you're now set to face Efren Hinojosa. What do you know about him?
RG: Um, I have NO clue the style he has or anything. The one good thing I did out in Los Angeles getting ready for this fight is we prepared for a lot of different things. I didn't know too much about (previously scheduled opponent) Johnny Edwards either, so we prepared for a bunch of different styles.
You're just a few days out, what have your final preparations been like?
RG: Final preparations are just maintaining and staying hard, just getting zoned in and focused, making sure everything's sharp. Working pads and letting my whole body heal up.
In the last 15 months you've only been in the ring for a total of 2 rounds. Do you feel like there's any rust at this point or do you have any other concerns with your body right now?
RG: I don't feel like there's any rust at all. Having good sparring, always staying active in the gym and not getting out of shape keeps you on top of it. And we're going to be ready and I don't feel no regrets or anything.
You mentioned you've been getting good sparring...who have you been sparring with during this training camp?
RG: I've been sparring with a guy, Art Hovhannesyan, he's an Armenian guy and a real tough guy. He was one of the sparring partners for Manny Pacquiao and he was sharp on the left handed stance already so it helped me out a lot, him doing rounds with Manny. He brought a lot of game to the table for sparring. And then also,another prospect that's on the undercard of the fight, Eloy Perez, helped me out a lot.
You get the opportunity to fight once again out of San Jose, are there added expectations this time out?
RG: I'm excited to come back and fight in San Jose again in front of the hometown crowd. You know... last time out it was unfortunate... the fight only went two rounds and they didn't get the show they deserved. I'm coming ready to fight and put on a show for them and I'm excited about it.
I'm sure you're sick of talking about that last fight (a No Contest due to a cut over his eye in the 1st round), but maybe you could describe the injury and how frustrating that was for you...
RG: It was real frustrating... it was a bad cut, bad location. It was frustrating that I didn't get a chance to work. I didn't really get to go to work and put in the rounds and put up a good fight for the crowd. It was just unfortunate and you just gotta bounce back and be ready for the next one.
How long did the cut prevent you from seriously training?
RG: It was 23 stitches... I had to take a good month off and let it heal up and put no stress on it. It's all good now...I'm excited and I'm ready to go.
Are you viewing this fight as just another fight or are you viewing it as a major chance to really vault yourself back into the picture and maybe even shut people up a bit?
RG: Oh yea, there's a lot to prove and a lot of doubters to prove wrong. I'm going to come out and do what I've been doing for my whole career and since I've been a kid. Just come out and fight and do what I do best.
What's next after this fight?
RG: Right now I'm just concerned about this fight and getting this taken care of first.
So what do you think about Juan Manuel Marquez, a guy who until recently was at your weight class, taking on Floyd Mayweather?
RG: I think it's going to be a good fight, you know Marquez is on his game right now and his last two performances have been incredible with Juan Diaz and Joel Casamayor. He's on top of it right now, he brings a lot to the table. He's a physical fighter and a technical boxer. He picks guys apart and I think he's going to put up a good fight with Floyd Mayweather and it all depends on how Floyd comes out of retirement and how he's looking. But the one thing about him is he's always in shape and always on top of it.
Any prediction?
RG: Just going to be a fan on that and just watch and see how the outcome comes out. It's going to be a good fight.
Thanks for the time and good luck on Friday.
