By Mario Ortega Jr. –

From the famed fighting clan centered in Gilroy, California, Jessie James Guerrero will return to the ring this coming Saturday night for the first time since beginning his own family with the birth of his daughter Luna this past June. With the newfound inspiration that comes with being a father, Guerrero aims to advance his career as he takes on Bryan Santiago in a six-round super flyweight attraction as part of the Gabriel Flores Jr.-Dennis Contreras card streamed by BLK Prime from the Adventist Health Arena in Stockton, California. 

Guerrero (4-0-2, 4 KOs) was last in the ring in March, scoring a second-round stoppage of Jose Rodriguez Montemayor at the same venue in Stockton. Emotions ran high, as the fight took place on Guerrero’s expecting girlfriend Ariel’s birthday. 

“When I was walking to the ring, I had a little emotion before I was coming out of the tunnel,” recalls Guerrero. “I was just thinking about having a baby and everything. It just hit me. But I was able to hold my emotion once I saw the crowd. Everything changed and I got locked in.”

With the added pressure and motivation to put on a performance, Guerrero did just that. Guerrero would find Rodriguez Montemayor’s sweet spot, dropping him three times in the second round with a punishing body attack to force the stoppage.

“He was a good opponent,” Guerrero says of Rodriguez Montemayor. “It was a good fight. Everything I did in the training camp is what I displayed that night. Everything worked out perfect and everything was set in place.” 

Though the fight only lasted into the second round in March, it was Guerrero’s first scheduled six-rounder. Guerrero, whose pro ledger fails to include two bouts he won as a 16-year-old in Tijuana, Mexico that have yet to be recognized by official record keeper BoxRec, has been moved along by his team, which includes his grandfather Ruben Sr., his dad Ruben Jr. and his uncle, multi-time world champion Robert Guerrero. 

“We all work together and make the best decisions,” says Ruben Sr. of the family operation, which includes five active professional fighting Guerreros, including Robert, who is eyeing a return in the near future, and many respected trainers. “We are a family. That is the way we prepare the boys, as one big family. We take care of my grandsons. My sons learned a lot from me and we are doing the best we can for them. It is their turn now.” 

After a quick return to the ring was ruled out by the California State Athletic Commission, Guerrero turned his focus to his blossoming family as Ariel’s pregnancy wound down. Luna, who was due on Father’s Day, arrived a week earlier. As any parent knows, everything changes once you bring your first born into the world. 

“It is going good,” explains Guerrero of his new family life. “There are just a lot of things to look out for now. It’s not just get up and go. We have to work around our schedules. She is four months old now. It has not been as hard as we thought it would be. We have family and everybody helps out. I stay with her for four or five hours, just me and her, while my lady goes to work. We have our family time together and then I go to the gym and they have their time together.” 

There are so few things in the world that could come close to motivating a man as much as their newborn daughter. “It has put a spark in me,” says Guerrero. “It made me realize that I got a little one to provide for and that is going to look up to me. I know that I want to do the best for her, whatever it takes. It is a lot of emotions, but I am handling it. As long as my family is healthy and I stay healthy, that is all that matters.” 

Having adjusted to family life, Guerrero can resume focus on his promising pro career. For many fighters competing in the lower weight divisions, any time away from the gym could be problematic, as every pound gained has added significance when you need to make 115 or 112-pounds on fight night. Guerrero, still a young pro, seems to have a strong hold on what he needs to do to be on point when it is time to hit the scales on Friday. 

“At first, about a year or two ago, it was easy,” says Guerrero of his ability to rebound from time away from the ring and make weight. “But as I’ve been getting older and my body is changing, I’ve noticed that I go up a few more pounds than I usually had. But it is easy for me to cut the weight. I have a fast metabolism and I do it the smart way. I don’t do it like some of these guys that do it, the last week, where they feel weak. That is not a good way to cut weight at the last minute. I start about two-and-a-half weeks out from the fight. Then I just have the last little bit to cut to get the last pound when it is time to make weight.” 

Guerrero will be dropping down from his last fight in March for his second scheduled six-rounder, this time at the 112-pound flyweight division against Bryan Santiago (1-1-1) of Donna, Texas.  

“He has three fights,” explains Guerrero, as Santiago’s listed record fails to include a July 27th bout in Harlingen, Texas. “I found a third fight. He lost his first fight, won his second fight and then he rematched the kid again and got a draw. I did my research.” 

Guerrero, who will be entering the ring for his ninth pro fight when including the two victories he had in Tijuana not as of yet officially recognized, will have the edge in ring time over Santiago and also feels he has an ace in the hole helping him prepare for his opponent’s style. 

“He’s 21 and I am 20, so he is a year older than me, but I feel like I am the more experienced one coming into the fight. This is my ninth pro fight and he only has three. I think this is his first time being in a six-rounder too. He’s a come forward, pressure fighter. But one of the good things is that one of my buddies, one of the pros in our gym, is a pressure fighter too, so I have been working with him for the whole month.” 

The fighter in camp with Guerrero, helping him prepare most for Santiago, is Angel Luis Cavazos, a bantamweight that won his professional debut on September 21st by first round knockout in Tijuana. 

“Angel fights exactly like [Santiago,”] explains Guerrero. “He comes forward and he’s a pressure fighter. After I saw the video on him, I knew exactly who I needed to work with. And Angel was already getting ready for his pro debut too, so he was in shape and in camp. He started his three weeks before I started my camp.” 

With all the motivation in the world to succeed now, Guerrero is ready to show the world the type of fighter he has become on Saturday night in Stockton.

“It is not going to be the same as the last time I was in Stockton,” says Guerero. “Last time I was a young teenager and now I am a father, so it is completely different. It is going to be a whole different performance, a whole different Jessie James.” 

Tickets for the event, promoted by G-Squad Entertainment, are available online at gsquadent.com

Photo by Trini Guerrero/@trinigphotography

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at [email protected] 

By Mario Ortega Jr. –

Nearly one year removed from his last fight, undefeated Jessie James Guerrero makes his long-awaited return to the ring this coming Saturday night when he takes on veteran Jose Rodriguez Montemayor at the Adventist Health Arena in Stockton, California. The six-round flyweight bout will serve as one of the featured attractions underneath Gabriel Flores Jr.’s homecoming main event. The event serves as the inaugural showcase for Gabriel Flores Sr.’s G-Squad Entertainment promotional entity. 

Guerrero, from the famed fighting family out of Gilroy, California, is primed and ready for Saturday night, considering he has been in camp since the fall of last year. Unfortunately for Guerrero, fight after fight fell through during that stretch: one in November, one in December and a third was first postponed, rescheduled and then ultimately canceled in January. 

“It does mess with us,” explains Guerrero. “Are we going to fight or are we not going to fight? I am working my butt off in camp, cutting weight, gaining weight, cutting weight. For me, it’s a good thing that I walk around between these weights, so I don’t really have to worry too much about it. So I feel pretty good right now.” 

Guerrero, the nephew of former world champion Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero, has continued to develop his craft in the gym, despite not getting the chance to show off his new tools before a paying crowd. Training under and alongside his uncle and sparring different types of fighters, Guerrero has been working hard away from the spotlight since the fall. 

“Camp has been great,” says Guerrero. “We started camp off in October. I went out to camp with my uncle for his fight with [Andre] Berto. I was out there with my cousin Vic, who just fought in January. We were getting ready for our fights in November. We were out there working in a world championship camp with my uncle and nothing gets better than that. I was sparring with all different types of guys; lefties, righties, switchers, power punchers, counter punchers. I got all the work I needed.”

When the January bout, scheduled to take place in San Jose, California, was taken off the books, Guerrero (3-0-2, 3 KOs) almost immediately shifted focus to this Saturday in Stockton, which will now serve as just his second contest to take place in the United States. 

“I took a week off and reset,” recalls Guerrero. “I came home for a week before going to camp again. I stayed in shape and worked on what I needed to improve on so I could be 110 percent for this fight coming up on March 16th.” 

Guerrero’s pro ledger fails to include two bouts he won as a 16-year-old in Tijuana, Mexico that have yet to be recognized by official record keeper BoxRec. With only a year of amateur fights under his belt, Guerrero’s team, which includes his father Ruben, his grandfather Ruben Sr. and his uncle Robert, believed Jessie James could handle the move to the paid ranks shortly after completing his sophomore year of high school. 

“A lot of people thought we were crazy,” admits Jessie James. “A lot of people told my grandpa…but from a coach with a lot of experience, doing this for over 40 years, he knows what’s best for me and my team knows what’s best for me. I was excited to go pro and I got a little glory while I was still at school. By the time I fought my fourth and fifth fight in Mexico, I would take two weeks off of school to finish the last two weeks of camp. I would go back and a lot of the staff would give me congratulations or tell me they were proud of me. Teachers had newspapers of me in the classroom. I got a good amount of glory for the next two weeks at school.”  

In his last outing, Guerrero made his stateside debut in Fresno, California on a big Top Rank-promoted event. The night got off to a great start for the young Guerrero. “It was a great experience that I will never forget,” recalls Jessie James. “I remember walking out through that tunnel and seeing all those people. This is what it feels like. It all happened so quick, so I didn’t really look around. But after the fight, I could look around at all the people yelling and cheering, so it was a great excitement. Now I have that experience and got those butterflies out of the way, so now I know what that moment feels like, moving on.” 

After the pageantry ended, Guerrero encountered new challenges and endured a learning experience before ultimately settling for a draw against Eduardo Alvarez. The first hiccup would be seeing his own blood as the result of an accidental headbutt in the first round. 

“I didn’t even realize I had got cut until I got back to the corner,” says Guerrero. “My first pro fight, I got headbutted. My opponent’s head went right to my nose and my nose started swelling up and I thought I broke it. But this fight I had got cut and I didn’t notice until I got back to the corner and they told me and then I saw the blood on me. I handled it well and didn’t let it faze me. When I went back to the corner, I just felt like it was a dogfight now and that we were in for a good one.” 

After battling his own blood, Guerrero also came up against an official he felt had it out for him. The end result would be a split decision draw where no judge scored it the same. “That whole night was a bunch of drama,” exclaims Guerrero. “The ref was a jerk to us the whole time. I couldn’t fight my fight, it just threw me off. Any little thing, I felt like he was going to take a point or find a way to mess with us. That’s why they say in four-rounders, you have to take them out easy. Anything can happen in four-rounders. That was the last four-rounder and I’m glad to move to six-rounders.” 

With his uncle Robert’s hall of fame type career winding down, Jessie James is one of four Guerreros of his generation carrying on the family’s fighting legacy. His cousin Victor Guerrero is an undefeated middleweight and his cousins Maribel and Robert Guerrero Jr. just made their professional debuts this past Saturday in Tijuana. 

“It is not just one of us in the hot seat,” says Jessie James. “There’s four of us. We see each other in the gym. We push each other. We watch and give each other tips. We have my uncle here helping with my cousins and I, and my grandpa. We are all in the gym and working, so it helps a lot. For my uncle, making the way and making a name in this sport, that does bring us a bonus to get into these fights. A lot of promotional companies want fighters with an amateur background, Olympians and national champions. So for us, with very few amateur fights, it is a big opportunity for us and the window is very small, so we are taking everything we can and pushing for it, to get our names out there.” 

Adding to his motivation in carrying on the Guerrero family business, Jessie James will soon be welcoming a new addition to the clan, as he and his girlfriend Ariel are expecting their first born to arrive in June. 

“I found that out the first week I was in Vegas for camp,” remembers Jessie James. “When I found that out, my switch flipped. Every single day, I put 150% into everything I did, day-in and day-out. No matter what it was, sparring or running…I said to myself I have a family to support now. When I had a one-on-one talk with my uncle, he told me that he could see the difference since I had been there and found out. He had seen it, that I had changed and in everything I did, I had stepped up. He was surprised and could see how hungry I was to do something. Coming from not only a world champion in this sport, but coming from my uncle, that motivates me and pushes me because I have seen him do it. Now that I have a baby on the way, I have to make a statement in the sport. ” 

With a baby shower slated for the end of the month, and a fight scheduled on his expecting girlfriend’s birthday, March 2024 is lined up to be one of the most memorable calendar pages in the life of young Jessie James Guerrero. The first order of business comes this Saturday in Stockton. 

“I am ready to put on a show. I want to say thank you for all my supporters, my family and friends and everyone that has been supporting me. It is not just hard on me when these fights fall out. I’ve got people buying tickets and taking time off of work to come, some coming from out of state, to come and just to have these fights fall out. This time around, it just adds that fire to me, that they came to support me and I can’t let them down. For months, we’ve been in camp and ready to fight. With the fight on my girlfriend’s birthday, I got to come home with the win. I’ve gotta show out.” 

Tickets for the event, promoted by G-Squad Entertainment, are available online at Ticketmaster.com 

Photo by Trini Guerrero

Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at [email protected] 

GILROY, CA (July 31, 2020) – The nephew of Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero, 16-year old Jesse James Guerrero, is set to make his pro debut this Saturday, August 1, 2020, at Papas and Beer in Rosarito, Mexico. Jesse James will campaign in the flyweight division.

Ruben Guerrero Sr. will be guiding the corner of his grandson with son Ruben Guerrero Jr. Jesse James has been working hard for his debut, sparring with the likes of Oscar Escandon and others in preparation for this fight.

“I know I have big shoes to fill following in the steps of my uncle Robert,” said Jesse James Guerrero. “My goal is to create my own path and become something special in this sport. I’ve been working with my grandfather for the last twelve months and I feel I’m ready to fight, even though I’m only sixteen years old.”

“We put in a lot of hard work going into this fight,” said Ruben Guerrero. “Jesse is a very hard worker and I know with pro experience he can make a name for himself. The plan is to build him up in Mexico before he turns eighteen and can fight in the States. I’m expecting to see him execute our game plan when we step in the ring tomorrow.”