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HBO Boxing After Dark Recap

"The Young and The Reckless"

March 7, 2009

San Jose Arena (HP Pavilion)-San Jose, California

This card is designed to showcase 3 young Golden Boy Promotions boxers: Robert Guerrero, Victor Ortiz and James Kirkland.Powered bythe local boxer, Guerrero, the event has drawn a respectable attendance of 6,765.

WBO NABO Junior Lightweight (130 pounds) 10-Round Championship Match:

Robert Guerrero (23-1-1, 1 ND, 16 KO's, 130 pounds) vs. Daud Yordan (23-0, 17 KO's, 129.5 pounds)

This title is currently vacant. It was last held by Roman Martinez, who vacated the belt to go after a more major title.

Guerrero began his amateur boxing career at a young age. He amassed agood amateur record, but decided to not wait around to attempt to qualify for the Olympics. Instead Guerrero turned pro at 18-years-old with a 4-round unanimous decision victory over Alejandro Cruz on April 22, 2001 at the Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California.

A resident of nearby Gilroy, California (which is also the home of the excellent Gavilan Hills Academy where I went to Elementary School), Guerrero has been out of high profile action for a while because of promotional issues. Guerrero had been with Dan Goosen, and after a protracted legal battleis now with Golden Boy Promotions.Guerrero's last real high profile match was a technical knockout victory 56 seconds into round 1 over Martin Honorio on November 2, 2007 at the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino in Lemoore, California. Guerrero landed a straight left hand to Honorio's face to bring a quick end to the match. Honorio tried to stand at 9, and went stumbling. That forced the referee to stop the match. The full recap of that match can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2009/3/15/recap-of-robert-guerrero-vs-martin-honorio.html

Guerrero's last match was a technical knockout victory 43 seconds into round 1 over Edel Ruiz on January 24, 2009 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Guerrero landed aperfect left hand to thebody thatleft Ruiz gasping for air on the canvas to earn the quick stoppage.

Guerrero is The Ring magazine's number 10 contender to their vacant championship at 130 pounds.

Yordan has been brought in to be knocked out in spectacular fashion by the hometown boxer.

The Indonesian has a ridiculously built up record. Yordan has faced 3 boxers making their pro debut, 1 winless boxer, 2 boxers with 1 victory and 2 boxers with 2 victories. Yordan won a minor regional title at 126 pounds on May 17, 2007, then defended it against a boxer that was 3-0. However, that boxer said he was 7-1. To further inflate his record, Yordaneven faced 2 boxers with only 3 wins in 2008.

Yordan's last match was a round 2 technical knockout over Hardian Siregar on December 22, 2008 at Indosiar Studio in Jakarta, Indonesia. Siregar was coming into the scheduled 8-rounder with a record of 3-12, and having lost his last 6 matches, the last 4 by knockout.

Yordan is unranked by The Ring, and currently the number 68 ranked boxer in the world at 126 pounds by boxrec.com.

At 21-years-old, Yordan is 4 years younger then the 25-year-old Guerrero. Guerrero stands 5' 9" tall, while Yordan stands 5' 7" tall. The local boxer has the reach advantage with a 22.5" arm length measured from the armpit to the end of the fist, compared to 21" arm length of Yordan. Both boxers have unofficially rehydrated to 135 pounds approaching matchtime. Guerrero will employ the southpaw stance, and Yordan will box out of the orthodox stance.

California's modified version of the unified rules of boxing are in effect for this match. All of the official judges keeping score of this match are from California. The referee is Jon Schorle. Harold Lederman will be keeping HBO's unofficial scorecard for this event.

The more aggressive Guerrero wins a relatively close round 1, 10-9. Guerrero is showing no respect for Yordan's power. With 2:00 to go in round 2, Guerrero has been cut by an unintentional clash of heads. Yordan is throwing 1 punch, then jumping in to clinch. When Yordan follows up to grab Guerrero, the Indonesian is frequently headbutting the Californian. The cut is above Guerrero's right eye and very bad. With 1:13 to go in round 2, the referee calls time to have the doctor check on Guerrero's cut. It appears the boxer is having difficulty seeing. Guerrero told the doctor he cannot see and that the blood is dripping directly into his eye. The doctor is going to have to stop the match. The referee is waving off the match. Since the match was stopped before the end of round 4 on an accidental foul it is by rule a no decision.

The official outcome courtesy of the legendary Michael Buffer is that: at 1:47 of round 2, because of a cut caused by an accidental headbutt Robert Guerrero cannot continue. Therefore, the referee after consulting with the ringside physician is calling a stop to this match and it will go into the record books as a no decision.

The final punchstat numbers have Guerrero landing 23 of the 111 total punches he threw, for a 21% total connect percentage. Guerrero landed 20 of the 73 power punches he threw, for a 27% power connect percentage. Yordan landed 14 of the 65 total punches he threw, for a 22% total connect percentage. The Indonesian turned out to only land power punches, landing 14 of the 54 power punches he threw, for a 26% power connect percentage.

Guerrero as expected showed that he was the much better boxer in this abbreviated match. He would reportedly like to face Humberto Soto next. Guerrero may take 1 more tune up match or go directly for Soto. The Gilroy resident showed he is one of the top boxers in this division and only risks further injury or a loss by delaying taking the title shot. Guerrero would be best off going for Soto as soon as he gets off medical suspension in the summer. Golden Boy Promotions is planning to collaborate with HBO for another Boxing After Darkevent on June 27 and tentatively, Guerrero will be boxing on that show.

Yordan used a dirty smoke and mirrors technique to briefly hang with the much better Guerrero. The one punch and hold technique is illegal and dirty. Yordan is very young and appears to have upside. However, he has very little power and would be best off refining his skills back in Indonesia.

None of the matches on this event were competitive. Anyone who missed this event did not miss much.