By Mark Emmons
The boxing world has come full circle for Gilroy fighter Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero.
A year ago, Guerrero announced that he was pulling out of the biggest fight of his career against Australian boxer Michael Katsidis because his wife, Casey, was preparing for a bone-marrow transplant.
But with Casey’s leukemia in remission and Guerrero back in the ring, the Ghost at last is getting his chance to fight Katsidis. The two will meet April 9 in an HBO pay-per-view bout at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
And the fight may end up being for the WBO lightweight title — meaning Guerrero (28-1-1, 18 knockouts) could be contending for his fourth world championship.
“That would be putting Robert in rare, rare air,” said his manager, Bob Santos.
But during the past few months, Guerrero has found himself ensnared in the politics of boxing.
On Nov. 6, Guerrero, in his third bout after the hiatus to be at his wife’s side, won a unanimous decision over Vicente Escobedo. That made him the No. 1 lightweight contender and the mandatory challenger for WBO 135-pound champion Juan Manuel Marquez.
But Marquez, a 37-year-old Mexican champion, has shown no interest in fighting Guerrero, who at 27 is much younger and also is a dangerous left-hander.
Instead, Marquez (52-5-1, 38 knockouts) has been exploring other fight options with the goal of setting up a big payday against superstar Manny Pacquiao.
Meanwhile, Pacquiao has a May 7 fight scheduled with Sugar Shane Mosley.
That has left Guerrero cooling his heels … until now.
“Robert is the mandatory fight,” Santos said. “But you can’t put a gun to somebody’s head and make them fight you. And it’s clear to us that Marquez wants no part of Robert. But Marquez isn’t the end-all and be-all. There are a lot of guys out there for Robert to fight.”
While the heart-tugging Guerrero family story has become well-known in the Bay Area, his upcoming opponent has had his own share of tragedy.
Katsidis’ brother, Stathi, a prominent Australian jockey with a history of drug and alcohol issues, was found dead in his Brisbane home on Oct. 19. Also, Katsidis’ training schedule has been affected by severe flooding near his home in Australia.
Katsidis (27-3, 22 knockouts) lost his last bout on Nov. 27 to Marquez in a technical knockout.
I agree. If he could beat Katsidis better than Marquez did, then Guerrero will have better luck to land the fight.
If he can stop Katsidis faster than Marquez and not get dropped, he might convince Camp Marquez to accept a fight.
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