FERNANDO GUERRERO TO FACE CHRIS FITZPATRICK
IN OPENING FIGHT OF A TRIPLEHEADER
FRIDAY, APRIL 20, ON SHOBOX: THE NEW GENERATION
Jermain Taylor Meets Caleb Truax in Main Event;
Erislandy Lara vs. Ronald Hearns in Co-Feature From
Beau Rivage Resort & Casino in Biloxi, Miss.
NEW YORK (April 9, 2012) – Dominican southpaw Fernando Guerrero (23-1, 18 KO’s) of Salisbury, Md., will make his fifth appearance on ShoBox: The New Generation when he faces Chris “The Irish Ghost’’ Fitzpatrick (15-1, 6 KO’s) of Las Vegas, Nev., in a 10-round super middleweight fight on Friday, April 20, live on SHOWTIME® (11 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the West Coast) from Beau Rivage Resort & Casino in Biloxi, Miss.
The Guerrero vs. Fitzpatrick bout will open a telecast headlined by a 10-round middleweight fight between former undisputed 160-pound world champion Jermain Taylor (29-4-1, 18 KO’s) and undefeated Caleb “Golden” Truax (18-0-1, 10 KO’s). The 10-round co-feature will pit former Cuban amateur standout Erislandy Lara (15-1-1, 10 KO’s) against Ronald Hearns (26-2, 20 KO’s).
The 5-foot-9, 25-year-old Guerrero is coming off of a fourth-round knockout over Jason Naugler last Feb. 18 in Cancun, Mexico. It was the second consecutive victory for Guerrero, who was dealt his first professional loss in 22 fights by veteran Grady Brewer on June 17, 2011 in a fight that Guerrero dropped down in weight to a career-low of 152 pounds.
In his last outing on ShoBox, Guerrero overcame an eighth-round knockdown to score a unanimous 10-round decision win over Ishe Smith on July 16, 2010. His other ShoBox victories came against Michael Walker (TKO 2) on April 16, 2010, Jessie Nicklow (TKO 4) on Dec. 18, 2009 and Tyrone Watson (UD 8) on Oct. 3, 2008.
Before turning pro on Dec. 8, 2007, Guerrero was a stand-out amateur, capturing the 2007 United States amateur middleweight championship while winning the vast majority of his 140 bouts, including two triumphs over 2008 U.S. Olympic alternate Shawn Porter.
Fitzpatrick will be making his ShoBox debut and second start in 2012. A 24-year-old who has campaigned almost exclusively in the South, Fitzpatrick is coming off of a sixth-round technical knockout win over Kenneth Dunham in his most recent effort on Feb. 4 in Chapin, S.C.
A native of Cleveland, Fitzpatrick turned pro in February 2008 and was victorious in his first 14 fights before losing a 10-round decision to Jose Medina on Oct. 28, 2011, in Albany, N.Y.
For information on SHOWTIME Sports, including exclusive behind-the-scenes video and photo galleries, complete telecast information and more, please visit the website at http://sports.SHO.com.
As in September, I once again ran out of gas in the 10th & 11th championship rounds of October & November with this column, but I recovered to complete them and will unleash a few more flurries to close out the 12th and final round.
In the first week of October, Hassan N’Dam won a UD over Curtis Stevens in an eliminator for the right to challenge Jermaine Taylor who defeated aging Sam Soliman to regain the IBF Middleweight title. How Taylor even earned this title shot is another story altogether, but it is all irrelevant as he is now the champion. However he will not have too much time to savor his victory as he has assault and battery charges pending against him and an upcoming court fight that may turn out to be the toughest fight of his life, just when things started to look up for him in boxing, we wish him luck.
