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ROBERT GUERRERO DISCUSSES KEITH THURMAN CLASH: "THIS IS A WHOLE DIFFERENT ANIMAL...I'M COMING TO FIGHT"

By Percy Crawford | February 24, 2015
ROBERT GUERRERO DISCUSSES KEITH THURMAN CLASH:

This is a whole different animal, especially when you get in with someone like Keith Thurman, who is undefeated and has been very active and very sharp. Fighters like Keith Thurman don't want to lose. They want to keep excelling. You gotta be ready for a guy like Thurman...ou can't really gauge it on Thurman's last fight or how he looked; you gotta be ready. I know he is a tough fighter and he don't want to lose and he wants to keep that knockout record up and impress the world. So you gotta be ready for what he brings...I'm coming to fight," stated former multi-division world champion Robert Guerrero, who talked about his upcoming March 7 showdown with WBA welterweight champion Keith Thurman. Check it out!

PC: How is preparation for your March 7th fight against Keith Thurman going?

RG: Training is going good, man. I'm just winding down now and fine-tuning things. We are just going over a bunch of things and just tuning things up now.

PC: I'm sure you have answered a lot of the same questions, so I will go in a different direction with this interview. We have watched guys like Tim Teebow and recently Russell Wilson get scrutinized for wearing their spirituality on their sleeve so to speak. You always make it a point to discuss your spirituality and beliefs as well. How important is that for you to continue to express yourself in that manner?

RG: It's very important, man, because that's a part of me. Both me and my family put God first before everything; especially all of the stuff we've been through outside of the ring with my wife and the cancer and having the bone marrow transplant. You gotta wear it on your sleeve. You can't just pull it out when you need it or it's convenient for you. You have to have faith and put God first all the time and that's what I'm gonna do. Whether people like it or not, it's who I am.

PC: Anytime you fight someone like Floyd Mayweather, you will have the cameras follow you around, you will be on All Access and just have a platform that you typically wouldn't have. Your life becomes very public and that's when we found out all of the intricate details of what your family went through outside of the ring. Are you okay with that or are you more of a private person?

RG: Yeah, I mean, I'm kind of a private person that just likes to spend time with my family, but also too, having the opportunity to share the story out there what my wife has been through and the battle with cancer. I don't care who it is, it affects everybody, whether it's the father, the mother, brother or even yourself. So it affects everybody, so to share your story and just let people know that there is light at the end of the tunnel when people get diagnosed, it's a great thing because when my wife got diagnosed, I was just spinning. I didn't know what to do, I didn't know how to speak, I didn't know how to act or what to think. It was just mind-boggling. The first thing that comes to mind is, "Man, is my wife going to die?" That starts shooting through your mind right away, and to be able to share the story and the testimony and the battle through it, me being by my wife's side and her battling through it is amazing. Also the position I was in watching my wife go through it as a caregiver and be at her side was very important. It's very important to a patient...when you have a patient that's battling cancer, they really look for comfort in their loved ones; spouse, brothers and sisters or family. They look for that and it really helps them out with getting through the process. They know somebody is there that loves them and will be by their side through thick and thin. I was very blessed to be able to express that and show that to the world.

PC: When your wife was going through that, were you thinking you may never fight again or were you thinking because of this, you would absolutely fight again to show the strength in your family?

RG: At the moment when she was going through it, boxing was the last thing on my mind. The whole thing to me was not about my career, it was about my family and my wife getting healthy and helping her through the fight and comforting her. When I stepped away from boxing and the title and the biggest fight of my career at the time, I was like, "If it's God's will for me to come back and do what I love to do, then so be it." At that point though, I had to focus on my wife and make sure that she was 100% healthy.

PC: Switching gears, you have won 6 world titles in 4 weight classes. Are you a trinket type of guy to where your titles are visible at all times or a little more reserved with them?

RG: I got them sitting in my closet (laughing). I don't really display them out or have them up in a shrine or anything. I like to carry myself in a way like I'm a normal person. I come out and I work hard and I do everything the best way that I can possibly do it and I carry myself in the best possible way. You gotta be able to have that mindset to be grounded and sometimes, when you have stuff displayed and you're always looking at it, you start to read into it too much. I'm one of those guys, it's what I do it's what I love and I love the fans and I love putting on great fights for them, but at the end of the day, I'm just like everyone else. I'm a father, I'm a brother and uncle. It kind of keeps me grounded keeping stuff like that out of sight.

PC: Gilroy, California loves Robert Guerrero and that was something else on display leading up to your fight with Floyd. And you always reached out to them and let them know you were in arms reach. Again, how important are things like that that may seem small to some, but you embrace it?

RG: (Laughing) Oh yeah, that's one thing that I do, and for this fight, I trained here in Gilroy. Just staying around and being around people I was raised with and people that I know; Gilroy is such a small town and area, so just sticking around and giving back to everybody. And the one thing I love is everybody appreciates it. So I can walk around Gilroy by myself every day and people are just honking and saying, "Hey, how's it going Robert?" And I think that's why I don't get bombarded for autographs or pictures because just being around so much and sharing everything with the whole community, they appreciate that and they got accustomed to it. So it's one of those things where I couldn't be happier to be in the position that I'm in and be where I'm at.

PC: You passed up an opportunity to pursue the Olympics on the 2004 team to turn pro at a young age. Obviously you have become one hell of a pro and that supersedes anything you could have accomplished as an amateur, but is that something you look back on and regret?

RG: Oh, no, I don't have no regrets at all. It was a decision that was really thought out and thought about. When I wanted to turn professional, my father wanted me to stay in the amateur program and aim for the Olympics. For me, I wanted to turn professional and pursue being one of the best fighters in the world. I don't regret it. Look where I'm at now. I've been very blessed and it's been a roller coaster ride, but it's been a great ride!

PC: I recently found out your good friend, Andre Ward, is a natural southpaw that fights orthodox. Are you a natural southpaw or are you converted?

RG: Yeah, I'm a natural southpaw.

PC: Are you looking at an undefeated fighter like Keith Thurman as another opportunity to crack that proverbial code and give him his first L, similar to the opportunity you had against Yordan, Aydin, and Mayweather?

RG: This is a whole different animal, especially when you get in with someone like Keith Thurman, who is undefeated and has been very active and very sharp. Fighters like Keith Thurman don't want to lose. They want to keep excelling. You gotta be ready for a guy like Thurman. A lot of people talk and criticize his last fight, saying, "He said this and he said that and he didn't look as good," but I looked at it as, "Hey, that guy came undefeated too and he didn't want to lose." When you got guys from different countries that come over here and have that opportunity to be in a great position and fighting on Showtime, HBO, or a big network, they come 10% better. You gotta be ready for this guy. You can't really gauge it on Thurman's last fight or how he looked; you gotta be ready. I know he is a tough fighter and he don't want to lose and he wants to keep that knockout record up and impress the world. So you gotta be ready for what he brings.

PC: Do you think boxing is trending too much towards fans and media killing guys for having a loss, killing guys for having an off night at the office, or if a guy predicts a knockout and wins by decision, they are killing those guys? Is that a trend you would like to see disappear and just have fans respect guys like yourself who, win, lose or draw, you lay it all on the line?

RG: Ah, most definitely! You're absolutely right. You hit it right on. Everybody is too stuck on having that undefeated record and not losing. And getting criticized for one loss...it's the old phrase in boxing, it's what you do when you come back from a loss. How you redeem yourself and are you gonna come back stronger, better, and learn from the loss and make the proper changes or take a whole different approach? It's how you come back and what you do after adversity. If you never face adversity and you've never been there, how can you tell how great you are?

PC: Absolutely! What did you take away from the loss to Floyd Mayweather?

RG: I learned a lot. I learned being in there with Mayweather; especially the event. A lot of people don't realize the whole event, the All Access, the media and how they bombard you and just everything that comes along with it. Being in New York and getting heckled for carrying a gun and stuff like that and the media just destroying you on something that was nothing. It really shows what kind of person you are. It brings out your character and how you're gonna react to stuff. And although Floyd is a tremendous fighter and how fast he is and how crafty he is in the ring, you take a lot away and you learn about yourself. After I fought Floyd and got the loss, it sent me back to assess the picture now. What could I do better? What could I have added I? What could I had not done? What went on in my training camp? It leaves you with a bunch of what ifs and you start adjusting and nitpicking everything that you had done up to that point in your career and training and everything that comes along with it. You take the good with the bad and you start putting it all together and roll it out again. It's what you are doing after that that makes you a better fighter and having that experience and walking to an arena where the crowd is just crazy and these humongous weigh-ins and the media is coming at you. It gives you that experience that not only makes you a better fighter physically, but mentally as well.

PC: You will be on NBC for the first time, so obviously a lot of new eyes and new fans will be watching. What can they expect from Robert Guerrero on March 7th and what would be the perfect statement to make?

RG: The best statement I can make is just come to fight. I'm coming to fight!



[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]

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