Fernando Guerrero had gotten through fights by the skin of his teeth before, and rallied from being hurt in the past. But tonight, the Maryland prospect was knocked out of the ring in the fourth round by veteran Grady Brewer, and didn't have enough to survive the round. The fight was called off after Guerrero hit the mat again following an uppercut. It may have been as much balance as anything, but referee Jon Schorle had seen enough, and Guerrero suffered the first loss of his pro career.
Brewer (28-12, 17 KO) hurt Guerrero (21-1, 16 KO) with right hands repeatedly, and he just looked stronger physically in the end against the 24-year-old Guerrero, who weighed in at a career-low 152¾. Whether or not the experiment to move down in weight was the main factor tonight isn't totally clear, though. Just as much as not looking good at the new weight, Guerrero's defense was leaky, which has been a problem in the past, and he just didn't commit offensively outside of a stretch in the third round.
It's a huge win for the 40-year-old Brewer, the former "Contender" season two winner whose career unraveled with injuries after winning the show in 2006. It's not likely to springboard Brewer back into serious contention at 154 pounds, but wins like this from still-vulnerable fighters tend to put them in discussions for "hand-picked" fights, such as we've seen recently with Nobuhiro Ishida.
After the fight, Guerrero remarked that he felt "too strong" and "too in-shape," but while emotional, made no excuses for the loss, and promised to be back. Good for the young man, who said he was "finally a fighter" now that he's lost.
In the co-feature, Karim Mayfield stayed undefeated (14-0-1, 9 KO) with a questionable 10th round stoppage of Steve Forbes (35-10, 11 KO). It was the first stoppage loss of Forbes' career, and could easily be argued as premature. But the real skinny with the fight was that Forbes looks clearly spent, and couldn't even make weight for the fight, forfeiting part of his purse. As for the 30-year-old Mayfield, he likely did himself no favors in terms of getting back on TV, with an ugly, clinch-heavy performance against the faded vet.