By Kirk Jackson
Many fighters get high praise nowadays. Guys such as Andre Ward, Nonito Donaire, Anselmo Moreno, Adrien Broner, Guillermo Rigondeaux, just to name a few, are mentioned are either on most people’s P4P list, or of the cusp of breaking into the top ten P4P list.
A name missing from many lists, and most notably from The Ring magazine’s top list of fighters is Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero.
“The Ghost” may be the most underrated fighter in the game today. His resume is better than most current fighters and he is a guy who continuously makes the effort to fight the best fighters available.
Possessing a large frame of 5’8”, a long reach of 70 inches with skills to match, Guerrero has the tools to threaten anyone near his weight class. This includes Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Juan Manuel Marquez and Timothy Bradley.
Guerrero is ranked by Ring Magazine as the 10th best welterweight, behind even the likes of Josesito Lopez and Victor Ortiz who are coming off consecutive defeats.
Guerrero has a terribly low ranking, and doesn’t appear to be close to cracking the top ten of the mythical P4P list.
Rankings according to The Ring are based on:
Results: This is the most objective criterion and takes precedence above all others.
Performance: How a fighter performs in a victory or defeat can be a factor to determine his place in the ratings.
Track record: A fighter’s accomplishments in the recent past can be a factor to determine his place in the ratings. That includes quality of opposition.”
Check, check and check. In regards to results, Guerrero moved up and defeated Selcuk Aydin to capture the WBC welterweight belt. In regards to performance, Guerrero moved up two weight classes and dominated his opposition. In regards to track record, his resume speaks for itself.
You would think a guy with the resume featuring the likes of Joel Casamayor, Vincente Escobedo, Michael Katsidis, Jason Litzau, Martin Honorio and Orlando Salido would warrant more respect.
Guerrero has traveled across six different weight classes, is a multiple division champion, capturing world title belts at featherweight, super featherweight, lightweight and most recently welterweight. His list of accomplishments is comparable to the likes of perennial P4P kings Mayweather and Pacquiao.
So why isn’t Guerrero ranked higher as a fighter, at least as a welterweight? Even if he doesn’t necessarily possess a crowd-pleasing style, one can easily make a case that he should be ranked in the top ten P4P.
When comparing Guerrero’s resume to Juan Manuel Marquez who is ranked at number 6th, over the past couple of years they fought the same opponents, which includes Katsidis, Casamayor and Escobedo.
Guerrero’s accomplishments and list of opposition is surely better than top ten pound-for-pound fighter Anselmo Moreno, whose most notable victory is over Vic Darchinyan.
Even when compared to Pacquiao, you can easily make a case for Guerrero facing better opposition. Pacquiao arguably lost to Marquez, and aside from Marquez and the controversial defeat at the hands of Timothy Bradley, Pacquiao in recent fights went up against washed up versions of Shane Mosley and Antonio Margarito.
Even with his controversial loss, dating back to Pacquiao’s last three fights, he has not looked impressive.
“When I look at pound for pound I look at weight classes, welterweight is my sixth different weight class,” said Robert Guerrero in a recent interview with Boxing Insider.
“I started at professional at 122 pounds, haven’t been able to get a guy like Marquez, or a guy like Pacquiao, or a guy like Floyd, or anybody like that. Juan Diaz, guys that there is so much fuss about.”
Guerrero has been chasing guys for a while now, climbing through each division in an effort to fight the best.
“It’s easier to just fight at one weight class but I always had to make the jump and move weight classes to get these fights and I still don’t get them, that’s the reason why I moved up from 135 to 147, to put myself in the position to get a crack at p4p the best fighter in the world,” said Guerrero.
“I just have to go through extreme measures and do these types of things. It’s what kind of guy I am and what I do is look for the best fights and putting myself in position to fight Floyd Mayweather and be the mandatory to him.”
It’s not “The Ghost’s” fault that guys won’t fight him. But more than the critics, fans of the sport should take the responsibility to recognize a fighter for his accomplishments, and judge him accordingly.
Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero is one of the best fighters in the sport, and underrated for sure.