Tomorrow night Showtime presents fight fans with another exciting night of boxing. Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero(29-1-1 18KO’s) steps in the ring with Selcuk “Mini Tyson” Aydin(23-0 17KO’s) for the vacant WBC welterweight interim world championship, in a 12 round bout. Guerrero, a Gilroy California native will be right at home fighting at the HP Pavilion in San Jose. The Turkish Aydin is coming to The Ghost’s stomping grounds in hopes of escaping with the WBC interim belt and a new found respect in the game.
Guerrero is moving up an unprecedented 2 weight classes from lightweight to welterweight. In addition to the weight change, he’s also coming off a 15 month injury lay off to face a heavy punching, action packed fighter like Aydin. The Ghost is looking to capture the fans attention and hopes that this fight leads to bigger named opponents for him. Guerrero wants to be considered in the upper echelon of the sport and winning what should be a TV friendly battle with a world class tough guy like Aydin, will put him well on his way.
Aydin, the current WBC welterweight silver champion; will be facing the most skilled opposition he’s seen yet in the ring. His last fight was a rematch against a slick fighter in Ionut “JoJo Dan” Ion, and Ion gave Aydin nothing but trouble in both fights. It’s a step up in class for Aydin to take on Guerrero but when you pack a right hand bomb like Mini Tyson, you’re more than well equipped to handle your own. Aydin is a very aggressive, always on the attack fighter and makes for an exciting fight when he’s in the ring; Guerrero is going to have his hands full.
Winning this fight means being the mandatory against Floyd Mayweather for his WBC title. That most likely won’t happen, Money May goes where the dinero is and takes the biggest fight available. Nothing against Guerrero or Aydin, but they don’t have enough star power to intrigue Floyd. But regardless they will still be in line for the WBC title and if Floyd denies the challenge, he will be forced to vacate the belt. Aydin, ranked #2 by the WBC has been waiting for this opportunity since he won a WBC eliminator back in 09′ by KO’ing Jackson Bonsu.
Both fighters will be looking to make their mark, as Aydin is clearly fighting the biggest name in his career and Guerrero will be in with a heavy hitter. Guerrero-Aydin is the main event with Shawn Porter and Alfonso Gomez as the co-feature. I expect each fight to be very eventful. Porter, like Aydin is stepping up in class taking on Gomez. Porter is a refined boxer with serious speed and pretty good power. Gomez is a hard-nosed veteran who’s been against some impressive opposition in his career. Gomez like all Mexican fighters, will be there to make the action, so Porter won’t have to go far to find it.
My predictions for the fights are as follows. First, Porter’s speed and youth will get the best of Gomez. While Gomez has skills, I don’t think he will be able to keep up with the younger, much faster Porter. I expect a TKO stoppage in the 9th. In the final bout of the night and what should be the most exciting, I pick Guerrero to win a unanimous decision. As long as Guerrero stays away from the right hand that Aydin packs, he will be in good shape. He has to use his footwork to stay away from the right and his speed to counter. It’s going to be another good night for boxing. The festivities begin at 8pm eastern on ShoExtreme followed by Showtime Championship Boxing at 10pm.
