As we begin to transition out of the Oscar De La Hoya era, boxing will look to fill his enormous shoes with another Mexican-American superstar. Robert Guerrero hopes to occupy this void with the combination of his crowd-pleasing fighting style and stellar personality. As he continues his climb to the top, Guerrero has set his sights on achieving what would surely be Hall of Fame credentials.

Born into a fighting family, Guerrero was raised around the gym, watching his older brothers and uncles fight. As a child, he was a natural in the ring, earning the nickname "The Ghost" because of his gift in dodging punches while simultaneously inflicting punishment. "When I first started sparring as a kid, I was just so fast in the ring, hitting kids and stepping off to the side and moving and slipping and basically just being a ghost in there," Guerrero proudly recalled.

With his recent victory over Malcolm Klassen, Guerrero now holds his third world championship. On the heels of this dominating performance, Guerrero has catapulted himself to the top of the 130-pound division.

While some fighters might be content to bask in their glory, Guerrero has his eyes focused on much larger prizes.  "Hopefully I can get in and unify titles; the plan is to sweep the division and then move from there. My goal is to win as many titles as I can collect.  I'm going to try and get up to 154 before I retire and try to win a title in every division along the way," stated a confident Guerrero.  This path would propel him up the pound-for-pound rankings and steer him on a collision course with Manny Pacquiao, boxing's kingpin.  "The biggest fight out there is Pacquiao and it would be nice to have a shot at him," said Guerrero.

The primary obstacle to such ambitious dreams is the ability to gain weight while maintaining enough speed and power to compete with naturally larger fighters. However, Guerrero feels very confident in his abilities. "It wouldn't be too tough. I'm 5'9, so I'm a big guy at 130 as it is. Moving up to that weight class wouldn't be a problem at all. In my case, it's a good thing, because I'm a big puncher as it is. Moving up, you carry the power going up in weight," Guerrero opined.  

As for his next move, Guerrero wishes to clean out the 130-pound division before setting his sights on the lightweight championship.  Rocky Martinez appears to be the most likely option. It would rekindle the Mexico vs Puerto Rico rivalry, a necessary rite of passage for any future Mexican hero.  After a few unification fights at 130 pounds, Edwin Valero and Juan Diaz appear on Guerrero's radar. "Valero is a big puncher who throws a lot of punches. I throw a lot of punches also; I'm a good puncher too.  Styles make fights and I think our styles match up to make an awesome fight for the fans. I think that would be a good fight for me and I think I have the style to beat him," said Guerrero.

It takes a man with unbridled dreams and courage to fill the shoes of a legend. Robert Guerrero seeks to become a torch bearer for the sport of boxing and a hero to future students of the sweet science.  "That's one of my dreams, trying to make my mark in the sport, being a hall-of-famer and a legend," says Guerrero.  As his accolades increase and his reputation grows, boxing stands to benefit the most from the rise of another great Mexican-American champion in Robert Guerrero.