By Ian S Palmer
Roberto Guerrero returns to the ring this Saturday June 21 when he takes on Yoshihiro Kamegai of Japan at the StubHub Center in Carson, California in a 12-round welterweight bout. This is the former three-division champion’s first contest since losing a one-sided unanimous decision to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in May of last year, which was his first loss since 2005. The fight can be seen across America on the Showtime Network while Super Channel is broadcasting it live in Canada and BoxNation has on tap for British fans.
Guerrero said he took a year off since he needed a rest after a trio of tough fights against Mayweather, Selcuk Aydin, and Andre Berto. He was also involved in a legal dispute with Golden Boy Promotions as he attempted to break his contract with Oscar De La Hoya’s company. In addition, he also signed Al Haymon as his new manager and is now ready to resume his career inside the ring. He said Kamegai is a tough opponent since he keeps coming forward and is one of those boxers who doesn’t back down and shy away from the tough going.
Guerrero enters the ring with a 31-2-1 record along with 18 Kos while Kamegai is 24-1-1 with 21 Kos to his name. They’re both 31 years old and both stand 5-foot-9-inches tall. However, Guerrero’s a southpaw. The Japanese boxer is relatively unknown to North American and European fans and scored a fourth-round Ko over Jung Hoon-Yang is his last outing in April. He’s fought in the U.S. before and has basically been brought in as an opponent for Guerrero to beat as he tunes himself up for a bigger bout.
Guerrero has taken a couple of long layoffs before in his career, so shouldn’t be bothered by ring rust. He does everything well in the ring, but isn’t considered to be a one-punch knockout artist. He has good power and speed and is effective fighting from both the outside and inside. He also possesses a pretty sold chin, which may be tested against Kamegai. This is because The Japanese slugger has good power in his fists and has disposed of 21 of his 26 opponents up to now.
It’s difficult to tell how powerful Kamegai’s shots really are though since he hasn’t stepped into the ring with any elite boxers up until meeting Guerrero. His lone loss came to Johan Perez by unanimous decision while the draw was against Jorge Silva. Still, it’s going to give Kamegai some hope of winning this fight, knowing he can turn things around with one or two solid shots if he lands them squarely on Guerrero’s jaw. He also likes to keep busy once the bell rings and this could cause a problem for Guerrero if he’s not 100 per cent ready.
Prediction
Kamegai’s best chance here is to jump on Guerrero right from the opening bell to see just how rusty he is. He needs to press the action against the Californian before he has the chance t settle into a rhythm. Kamegai’s boxing skills don’t match up with Guerrero’s so if his power shots don’t have any effect on his opponent he’s going to have to outbox him, which isn’t very likely. Look for Guerrero to withstand Kamegai’s attack and take the fight by a unanimous decision.
http://youtu.be/00RY4H8u6Uw
