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Boxing Talk's Ryan Burton had the chance to interview new junior lightweight titleholder Robert Guerrero to get his thoughts on his Saturday win over Malcolm Klassen.
Guerrero isn't overly thrilled with his win, it doesn't seem, but he does feel he acquitted himself as a fighter with heart after many questioned him following what appeared to be a quit job against Daud Yordan earlier this year:
Boxingtalk: Robert, how do you rate your performance?
Robert Guerrero: I give myself like a C. There is still a lot of stuff I have to improve on. There are a lot of things I did good too. I stuck to the game plan and did what I had to do.
BT: You came out very fast and Malcolm Klassen seemed to start very slowly. What do you attribute that to?
RG: The game plan was to come out be first. That was one of the things that we wanted to do. We wanted to get out there and establish that jab and circle and be first. We wanted to keep him off his game because once you let Klassen get going, he is going. There were a couple rounds where I let him get on his game and he came out and threw some shots. I let myself get away from my game plan and he started getting some punches through.
Guerrero sums up the fight fairly well, I think. He does a far better job of telling the fight's story than the HBO team did on Saturday, when they acted as if Guerrero was cleaning the ring with Klassen. In truth, it was a good, competitive fight where Guerrero started fast and I thought Klassen came on strong down the stretch. I scored the fight a draw, and most of us watching here during the round-by-round had it far, far closer than the HBO broadcast might have indicated.
Guerrero says he's looking forward to unifying titles at 130, but names nobody. Personally, I'd like to see him give Yordan another shot. That would prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that he's got the guts of a top-level guy. Yordan seemed to be giving Guerrero way more trouble than "The Ghost" might have anticipated in their all-too-brief meeting.