Robert Guerrero

Robert Joseph Guerrero (born March 27, 1983) is an American professional boxer.

After an impressive amateur career begun at a very young age, Robert turned professional, at the age of 18, on May 22, 2001 with a four-round unanimous decision win against Alejandro Cruz.

After several wins and only a single draw later, Guerrero won the WBC NABF Featherweight title against Cesar Figueroa on December 9, 2004.

Defending his NABF title twice, Guerrero was seen as a rising prospect, until meeting Gamaliel Diaz in a bout televised on ShoBox, on the Showtime channel, on December 12, 2005.

An aggressive Diaz upset Guerrero, winning by split decision and taking the NABF belt in the process.

Guerrero rebounded from his first loss by defeating Sandros Marcos via third-round technical knock-out, setting up a rematch against Diaz, again on Showtime.

Guerrero knocked down Diaz in the first round, and eventually knocking out Diaz early in the sixth round.

The win set him up to face IBF champion Eric Aiken.

He has held world championships in two weight classes, including the IBF featherweight title twice between 2006 and 2008, and the IBF junior lightweight title from 2009 to 2010.

Additionally he has held multiple interim titles at lightweight and welterweight.

Guerrero is trained by his father Ruben Guerrero, a former amateur champion, who introduced Robert and his five brothers to boxing as youngsters growing up in Gilroy, California.

In his first world championship fight on September 2, 2006, Guerrero defeated Eric Aiken by an eighth-round technical knockout in Los Angeles.

Guerrero used inside fighting, neutralizing Aiken's power, and eventually making Aiken quit on his stool after the eighth round to earn his first world title belt.

Guerrero lost the belt in his next fight in a mandatory defense to Orlando Salido in Las Vegas.

Salido dominated the majority of the bout and pulled off an upset decision win with scores of 115–113, 117–111, 118–110.

However, Salido would subsequently be stripped of the IBF title after testing positive for steroids, thus vacating the belt; the result of the bout would also be changed to a twelve-round no decision by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

The IBF subsequently gave Guerrero the shot at the vacant featherweight title, which he won by ninth-round technical knockout in Copenhagen, Denmark on February 23, 2007, against Albanian boxer Spend Abazi.

Guerrero's second defense of his second title was to be against Rocky Juarez (27–3, 19 KOs); however, Juarez chose to meet WBC Super Featherweight Champion Juan Manuel Márquez in a money fight instead.

Guerrero's first defense was scheduled to be against Martin Honorio (24–3–1) on November 3, 2007, and was televised on Showtime, on the undercard of the Marquez-Juarez match.

Guerrero was unable to attend the final press conference before the match after his wife Casey was diagnosed with leukemia.

Guerrero defeated Honorio in a first round knock-out.

On February 29, 2008, Guerrero defeated Jason Litzau via an eighth round knock out.

Guerrero then vacated the title to move up in weight.

On March 7, 2009, Guerrero fought Daud Yordan in his HBO debut.

The fight ended in a second round "no contest" decision after Guerrero suffered a headbutt resulting in a gash above his eye.

After the bout Guerrero offered Yordan a rematch, however, Yordan reportedly declined.

On June 12, 2009, Guerrero faced Efren Hinojosa (30–5–1).

He suffered another deep cut near his left eye from a head-butt in the seventh round, but this time it did not slow his progress as he scored an eighth round TKO victory.

After the bout, the media described him as having redeemed himself for his previous lackluster effort.

On August 22, 2009, Guerrero challenged Malcolm Klassen for his IBF Super Featherweight title.

Guerrero won the fight by a unanimous decision to claim the world title.

The scores were 117–112, 116–112 and 115–113 in his favor.

In February 2010, Guerrero vacated his Featherweight title in order to care for his ailing wife.

On April 30, 2010, Guerrero moved up to the lightweight division to fight Robert Arrieta (35–15–4).

The bout took place at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States.

Guerrero won the fight by TKO in the 8th round.

After the bout, Guerrero expressed his interest in fighting Mexican champion Juan Manuel Márquez.

On July 31, 2010, Guerrero moved up to the junior welterweight division and faced Cuban fighter Joel Casamayor on the undercard of the Marquez vs. Diaz pay-per-view at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

Guerrero defeated Casamayor by a 10-round unanimous decision.

On November 6, 2010, he faced Vicente Escobedo for the vacant WBO Inter-Continental lightweight title.