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GUERRERO and wife Casey: a load has been lifted from his mind. / Photo: SUMIO YAMADA

Guerrero -460; Casamayor +320

Over 9.5 -185; under 9.5 +155

Robert Guerrero goes into Saturday night’s 10-rounder against Joel Casamayor with a burden lifted from his mind. Guerrero has gone through a time of personal turmoil as his wife, Casey, battled leukaemia. A bone marrow transplant was successful and Casey is now cancer-free. A much-relieved Guerrero says he is now able to focus on his boxing career again.

The fight with Casamayor has been described as a junior welter contest, but I consider the boxers to be lightweights. The weights are what you would expect a lightweight to weigh for a non-title bout, with Guerrero coming in at 138 ½ pounds, Casamayor at 138. (Guerrero, though, looked the trimmer man at the scales.)

DEREK ENNIS vs GABRIEL ROSADO

Ennis -105; Rosado -115

Over 9.5 -185; under 9.5 +155

There is an echo of the past about promoter Russell Peltz’s show in Philadelphia on Friday, when Derek Ennis defends his USBA junior middle title against Gabriel Rosado. Both boxers live in Philadelphia, and Peltz has been recalling some of the great all-Philly showdowns of yesteryear.

“In 1961, when I was 14 years old, my dad took me to the old Arena at 46th & Market Street to see Harold Johnson defend his light-heavyweight title against Von Clay,” Peltz said in a communication from his office a couple of weeks ago. “Johnson was from Manayunk and Von Clay was from West Philadelphia.

JUAN MANUEL MARQUEZ vs JUAN DIAZ

Marquez -320; Diaz +280

Over 10.5 +100; under 10.5 -120

Time was when it didn’t matter too much if a fighter lost, as long as he pleased the boxing public. This old-school way of thinking resurfaces on Saturday when Juan Manuel Marquez and Juan Diaz meet in a lightweight championship rematch on HBO PPV from the Mandalay Bay casino resort, Las Vegas. Each man lost in his last fight, but this hardly seems to matter. The people at Golden Boy Promotions take the view that the first bout between Marquez and Diaz was so dramatic and thrilling that fans will surely want to see the sequel. I think they are right. Marquez-Diaz II simply looks like being a rousing fight, and that really is all that matters.

JACOBS: Tough task, but he's ready for anything

DANNY JACOBS: impressive maturity. / Photo: Golden Boy Promotions

The last time a New York boxer took on a Russian fighter in Las Vegas it wasn’t a good night at all for the representative of the Empire State. Brooklyn was in the house, but not for very long as Zab Judah crashed out of the fight in the second round, courtesy of Kostya Tszyu’s arrow-straight right hand.

On Saturday, Brooklyn’s Danny Jacobs steps up in class to meet Russia’s formidable Dmitry Pirog for the vacant WBO middleweight title in what many regard as the most intriguing bout on HBO’s PPV show at the Mandalay Bay casino resort.

What struck me immediately was the contrast between the pre-fight approach of Judah and Jacobs. “Super” Zab was full of talk about what he was going to do to Tszyu, whereas Jacobs talks respectfully about his opponent. I much prefer the Jacobs manner of conducting himself.

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JORGE LINARES vs ROCKY JUAREZ

LINARES: rebuilding after a one-round shocker. / Photo: SUMIO YAMADA

Linares -350; Juarez +280

Over 9.5 -180; under 9.5 +140

When Amir Khan suffered a shocking first round knockout loss against Breidis Prescott he picked himself up, dusted himself off, and — astutely guided by trainer Freddie Roach —came back with a series of wins to make himself one of boxing’s biggest attractions.

Jorge Linares was, like Khan, a one-round knockout victim when he lost his junior lightweight title to Juan Carlos Salgado in Tokyo last October. He, too, is attempting to pick up the pieces and show that what happened was just an accident, and he hopes to take a major step forward when he meets the tough and capable Rocky Juarez on the big PPV show in Las Vegas on Saturday.

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BEIBUT SHUMENOV W12 VIACHESLAV UZELKOV

That was a curious contest between Beibut Shumenov and Viacheslav Uzelkov on Friday Night Fights. Dropped by a left hook in the opening round, Shumenov proceeded to win every other round — maybe every other minute — of the fight.

I was impressed with Shumenov in a light-heavyweight title defence that was expected to be much tougher. He was strong, disciplined and very determined. He fought a perfect winning fight — keep moving, keep punching, keep putting rounds in the bank.

FERNANDO MONTIEL KO3 RAFAEL CONCEPCION

The big hits of this past weekend were KO winners Fernando Montiel, Alfredo Angulo and Denis Lebedev. They took care of business in a combined total of less than six rounds.

Montiel looked tremendous in his third-round destruction of Rafael Concepcion in their bantamweight title fight televised on Fox Sports Espanol.

This was Montiel’s first bout since his upset stoppage victory over Hozumi Hasegawa in Japan, and he went out to make a statement in front of the Mexican crowd.

DENIS LEBEDEV KO2 ALEXANDER ALEXEEV

Everyone knew that Denis Lebedev was one tough son of a gun and an excellent fighter. Still, I don’t think that anyone could have foreseen a two-round blowout for the Russian boxer when Lebedev met Alexander Alexeev in a cruiserweight championship eliminator in Germany on Saturday.

The meeting of southpaws looked, on paper, like being intensely competitive. Sometimes, though, one fighter lives up to expectations and the other, in boxing parlance, doesn’t show up.

FERNANDO GUERRERO W10 ISHE SMITH; SHAWN PORTER W10 RAY ROBINSON; MIKE DALLAS Jr. W8 LANARD LANE

ShoBox offered a cracking card on Friday, with three highly enjoyable fights. Favourites won but had to fight for the wins. Fernando Guerrero was severely tested by Ishe Smith in the middleweight main event but produced a high punch-count to earn the unanimous decision and Shawn Porter had all he could handle with Ray Robinson in a spirited welterweight bout.

Opening the show, Mike Dallas Jr. produced the smarter boxing to outpoint the physically stronger Lanard Lane in a tense eight-rounder between unbeaten junior welters.