Robert Guerrero announces retirement

At age 34, and after going 2-5 in his last seven bouts, Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero has officially decided to hang up the gloves. Guerrero finishes his career with a record of 33-6-1 (18 KOs) and having won world titles in two different weight classes.

This is really a good decision on Guerrero’s behalf, as he’s taken more punishment than any one person should in recent years. In Guerrero’s early career he was known as a boxer-puncher, but when he made the jump the welterweight he became a mauling, brawling action fighter. And for as many times as he’s said he was going back to his old boxing ways these past few fights, he just couldn’t bring himself to do it - repeatedly finding himself in one slugfest after another.

Now this made for some entertaining fights for fans, but he sure took a lot of damage as a consequence, and the wear and tear on his body showed with each passing fight — even if that’s something that doesn’t really show on the surface.

In Guerrero’s fight this past weekend with Omar Figueroa Jr., Guerrero looked to be in great physical condition, much better than Figueroa even, but just couldn’t stand up to punches like he used to and got dropped five times in three rounds en-route to a knockout loss.

In a farewell statement captured by ESPN, Guerrero offered these thoughts on his time in the sport:

"First, I want to thank God for allowing me to have a wonderful career," Guerrero, 34, said in a statement. "I'm a kid from a small town in Gilroy, California, who made it to the mountaintop of the boxing world. When I was a young kid growing up, I always believed in myself, but never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined a small-town kid like myself would be fighting in front of millions of fans."

"A boxer's career is a long and tough road," he said. "Many tears were shed, lots of blood and tons of sweat. Many miles were traveled, thousands of rounds sparred. None were easy, and nothing was ever given to me. I earned everything I got the old-fashion way. I never ducked anyone and fought the best fighters in the world. I fought my way through every obstacle to make sure my fans enjoyed every second of every round of my fights."

Guerrero finished his goodbyes by thanking everyone who has helped him over the years, particularly the fans who stuck by him and his family while his wife was battling cancer.

Best of luck to Guerrero in his future endeavors...