Guerrero Finds Redemption As He Stops Hinojosa

Guerrero Finds Redemption As He Stops Hinojosa

By Brian Blake, Doghouse Boxing (June 15, 2009)

Robert ‘The Ghost’ Guerrero did exactly what he was supposed to do last night. He was showcased against late replacement fighter, Efren Hinojosa, who was forced to retire at the end of the eighth round in their ESPN2 televised main event. 3,234 fans made their way to the HP Pavilion to watch Guerrero, the local hero, redeem himself after his last fight, against Daud Yordan in March, was stopped in the second round was stopped due to a cut from a clash of heads.

In his first fight in the lightweight division Guerrero would press the action and find success by keeping Hinojosa on the end of his jab, digging to the body as well as landing solid combinations throughout the fight. It was clear early on that the size advantage of the 37 year old Hinojosa wasn’t going to be enough to keep the former two-time IBF featherweight king, Guerrero, from pressing forward.

Things would go from bad to worse for Hinojosa in the sixth round as Guerrero would land some hard shots to bloody up Hinojosa’s nose.

In the seventh round Guerrero would once again find himself cut due to an unintentional head butt. This time the doctor wouldn’t stop the bout on his behalf.

"I felt it right away," Guerrero would say after the fight. "I smiled inside and I said 'now it's time to show everybody, it's my time to shine.' "

The cut wouldn’t have much time to bother him as the fight was stopped by

the ref on advice from the doctor at the end of the very next round as Hinojosa would walk back to his corner holding his right arm in what turned out to be a dislocated elbow.

With the win ‘The Ghost’ improves his record to 24-1-1 with 17 stoppages while Hinojosa has now lost four of his last five bouts with his sole win coming by way of a first round disqualification.

Guerrero will now drop back down to the junior lightweight division to challenge South African fighter, Malcolm Klassen, for his IBF version of the 130 lb. title. The bout will take place on HBO on August 22 at the Toyota Center in Houston, TX with Juan Diaz and Paulie Malignaggi headlining the event.

In the co-main event Philly fighter Danny Garcia had little trouble disposing of Tijuana fighter Pavel Miranda. It only took two rounds for Garcia to land a big right hook which would put Miranda on the canvas. While Miranda would beat the count Garcia would go right back to work landing a barrage of punches that would once again put Miranda down prompting ref Ray Balewicz to wave it off 58 seconds into the round.

Local heavyweight prospect, Ashanti Jordan took on Andrae Carthron in a 6 round bout where Jordan would take a majority decision with judge Michael Tate having the fight even with a score of 57-57 while judges Steve Morrow and Marty Sammon turning in identical scores of 59-55 both in favor of Jordan. Carthron took the fight on three days notice.

Off TV fights featured cruiserweight Anthony Johnson who took a four round decision over the winless Henry Wells, and a heavyweight bout between Yohan Banks and David Johnson which ended in a second round technical draw.

Questions and comments can be sent to: BrianOBlake@yahoo.com