Talk becomes cheap the day of a fight as nothing is given inside the ring except body blows and black eyes.
Once a winner is announced, however, the pride and payday that follows is a life-changing experience.
Jason "The American Boy" Litzau (23-1, 19 KOs) knows this, and with tonight's bout between him and Gilroy native and IBF Featherweight champion Robert "The Ghost" Guerrero (21-1-1, 14 KOs) taking place at the Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino in Lemoore, Calif., everything is on the line for the both boxers.
"It would mean a lot to me (to win)," Litzau said about his first-career title fight. "I'm fighting for my family. I'm fighting for me. Being a world champion is everything I want."
Motivation shouldn't be a problem for The Ghost, either. Each new fight is the biggest bout of your life when you're the champ. A victory for Guerrero would likely catapult the southpaw pugilist into bigger fights, and consequentially, bigger paydays. The hope from Guerrero's camp is to win tonight's fight impressively, and then go after Manny Pacquiao, Juan Manual Marquez or look at unifying titles.
In the final days leading up to tonight's bout (Live at 8 p.m. with an east-coast feed of Showtime, 11 p.m. tape-delayed on the west coast), Guerrero has gone into seclusion, declining to be interviewed - something his camp thinks is a good sign in regards to his state of mind.
"When you have a guy focus in and zero in, not taking interviews, I know he's serious and ready to go," Guerrero's manager Bob Santos said. "I would be a little concerned if he was happy-go-lucky."
While tension is typical for most fighters in the days leading up to a bout, Guerrero has had a weight lifted since the last time he was prepping to get in the ring. Before a November knockout of Martin Honorio in 56 seconds, Guerrero was dealing with the knowledge that his wife's health was deteriorating. Since that time Guerrero's wife Casey is doing much better. Diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia in October, her cancer is now in remission as she continues to receive treatment.
"He's had time to think about it and ponder on it, but now there's a sense of urgency (for him), realizing that anything can happen in life. You can't take things for granted," Santos said. "From that standpoint I think he's going to be really focused on the fight."
Litzau's focus has been building for the last two months, seeing nothing but lefty's in sparring sessions to prepare for Guerrero's southpaw stance. A 6-1 underdog according to several sports books, Litzau will also be entering enemy territory as the fight takes place just hours away from Guerrero's home, a place the Ghost will have fought in four times after tonight.
But as Litzau said, being an underdog "don't matter to me. You saw what the (New York) Giants did."
When asked is he was comparing Guerrero to what seemed to be an invincible New England Patriots team entering the Super Bowl, only to go on and lose, Litzau reiterated that odds mean nothing.
"I'm prepared for the fight to go every which way. I had the best sparring, Our camp went unbelievable. I'm prepared for everything - the worst, the best, whatever," he said.
Guerrero's manager thinks Litzau's best may not be enough.
"I just think that Robert can fight on the inside and fight on the outside," Santos said. "I think Robert is a durable guy, he's fought tougher competition, he's been in world title fights. He's been there, he's done that. Whatever Litzau brings to the table, he'll be ready.
"You cant take anyone lightly who is (ranked) in the top 10, I think [Litzau] is a good fighter. But I just think Robert is an exceptional fighter."
Josh Koehn Josh Koehn is a sports writer for South Valley Newspapers. He can be reached at jkoehn@svnewspapers.com.
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