by David P. Greisman

A fight alone is enough motivation. It is a challenge, and a potentially dangerous one at that, to stand in with another person intent on hurting you and often capable of succeeding, especially if you’re not properly prepared. It is an opportunity, with nearly every victory and many valiant defeats leading to more fights, more money, more attention.

A title fight adds more motivation. That remains true even in this era with so many world title belts and so many divisions that it can be hard to keep track of them all. There’s still a perception of prestige; more doors can open, more opponents might want to face you.

Danny Garcia and Robert Guerrero had a fight before they had a title fight. Their bout was announced in late November, two months before they were to meet at Staples Center in Los Angeles. It wasn’t until January, with less than two weeks before their bout, that the World Boxing Council said Garcia and Guerrero would vie for its welterweight title, a belt left vacant after Floyd Mayweather Jr. retired.

They belt would be meaningful to them nonetheless. For Garcia, winning would mean a world title in a second weight class, this one following his time as the champion of the junior welterweight division. For Guerrero, it could potentially bring him one more run at the top, a scenario that seemed highly unlikely in 2016 given the way he’d looked in 2015.

That’s why he needed a victory anyway, or at least a valiant defeat. Another poor performance could consign him to the status of a faded veteran, someone who is relegated to giving young prospects a bit of a test in the ring but otherwise being a commodity — a recognizable name added to their résumé.

Guerrero was a former featherweight titleholder. He was a former junior lightweight titleholder. He was a former contender at lightweight and welterweight. Everything good about him seemed to be in the past.

His last truly great moment was more than three years ago, when he’d battled it out with Andre Berto in late 2012 and proven that he could compete at 147 pounds. That earned him a fight with the best boxer in the division and in the world, Mayweather, who as expected won a unanimous decision over Guerrero in May 2013. There was no shame in that. There was glory when he returned in June 2014, triumphing in a war with Yoshihiro Kamegai. There was concern, too, given how much punishment Guerrero had taken and how that punishment had come against someone who couldn’t ever be considered a world-class foe.

He put up a fight against Keith Thurman last March, but not enough of a fight to make the result more competitive on the scorecards. And then he put forth a disappointing effort against Aron Martinez, a determined opponent but a journeyman who never could be confused with a top welterweight. Martinez dropped Guerrero and appeared to have done enough to win. Guerrero left with the victory and a lot of people doubting his future.

He blamed external factors and believed that, without them, he would be better his next time in the ring than he was last time.

“I felt a little drained and worn out. Not so much of the fighting, but I had other situations going on in my life at home and emotional stuff,” Guerrero said on a media conference call about two weeks before the Garcia fight. “It all adds up. But like I said, there's no excuse. Aron Martinez came to fight and that's what he did. I sucked it up and bent down and showed that true grit and got through the fight and pulled a victory off.”

He wasn’t wholly focused mentally, he said, nor was he as prepared physically as he should’ve been.

“You got to get better sparring. For the last couple of fights I've just been fighting with guys that are not even pushing me in the gym and getting me 100 percent ready, guys that I can do what I want to do with in the ring,” Guerrero said. “It just doesn't cut it. It just doesn't cut it.



“That's one of the biggest things that I've noticed in my training camp, is not having that solid sparring that's going to take you to that limit and make you better, sharper, faster. Keep your eyes sharp, and be ready to make those exchanges where you do something wrong they're going to make you pay no where you're going to do something wrong and the guy's going to shell up and just try to survive in the ring. You need those guys that are going to push you and make you better.”

Garcia, meanwhile, also had some “former” in his description, though he was a former champion who had never been beaten for that title but had rather given it up. There was some “still” to him as well. He was still undefeated and still considered one of the best in the sport.

There were still some questions about him, too.

He had beaten the second-best fighter at 140 pounds, winning a close but clear decision over Lucas Matthysse in 2013. But then he struggled against a determined and difficult opponent in Mauricio Herrera. He never fought at the junior-welterweight limit again. Instead, his management team deferred a fight with Lamont Peterson — someone whom Matthysse had destroyed but someone who was still considered a worthy challenger — and made a senseless sacrifice of the undersized and underwhelming Rod Salka.

The Peterson fight came last April. The official result reads that Garcia won a majority decision. The better description is that Peterson lost the fight, giving away far too many of the early rounds before coming on later. Some fighters look good in defeat. Garcia didn’t look good in victory.

He said afterward that he’d be moving up to 147. The Salka fight had a contractual weight limit of 142 pounds. The Peterson fight had a limit of 143. That little bit of leeway wasn’t enough anymore.

“I feel a lot better. I'm happier now,” Garcia said on a media conference call about two weeks before the Guerrero fight. “When I fought at 140, I was always mean while trying to cut weight. I was never in a good mood. I think that's why a lot of times I would go in there and just fight. But now I'm able to think more; I'm able to be a lot smarter. My punches are crispier and my stamina is better. I'm able to run more, run more miles, train harder, [have] more endurance.”

This was his second bout as a true welterweight. The first came last August, when he stopped Paulie Malignaggi. Garcia looked good, but the win came with the caveat as it came against a faded fighter, one who never demonstrated much power. It was still unclear how Garcia would fare against the best of 147, how well his pop would carry against the bigger opponents and how well he would handle their punches.

Each fighter had a different test. Each fighter is still only halfway through passing it. To think otherwise would be to grade on a curve.

Garcia won a unanimous decision. It wasn’t entirely easy. Guerrero looked much better in the early rounds this past Saturday than he did against Martinez. He put pressure on Garcia, landed some shots and made Garcia work. Garcia responded well. He moved and countered. He got Guerrero to slow down with body shots and he got Guerrero’s respect with hard counters that began to land with more frequency later on in the bout.

It’s still too early to know how Garcia will fare against better welterweights. The world title doesn’t automatically elevate him. Neither does beating Guerrero. Nearly every victory leads to more fights, though. He should be expected to step up against even tougher challenges soon.

Some valiant defeats can also lead to more opportunities. Guerrero didn’t win, but he didn’t lose in a poor performance. The amount of clean punches he takes to the head remains worrisome. He’s still able to take them, though, and he was also able to fight without appearing to be an embarrassing shell of himself. Losing to Mayweather, Thurman and Garcia doesn’t mean he’s done. Losing this decision to Garcia doesn’t mean he’s back yet either. He, too, will need to step in with a respectable contender to show that.

We can still give Garcia and Guerrero preliminary marks. But we’ll otherwise need to reassess them following their next test — a final examination that should decide at which level they would next belong.

“Fighting Words” appears every Monday on BoxingScene.com. Pick up a copy of David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsamazon or internationally at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsworldwide. Send questions/comments via email at fightingwords1@gmail.com