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In This Corner, a Boxer Jabbing at a Dream

Having won citizenship, champ aims for spot on US Olympic team

By Heather McPherson,  Newser User

Posted Aug 20, 2007 3:52 PM CDT

(Newser) – As a Dominican native, Fernando Guerrero had to fight for US citizenship. This week, the middleweight boxer is saving his jabs for the ring, where he hopes to earn a spot on the US Olympic squad headed for Beijing. The 20-year-old champ, whose career detoured because he wasn’t a naturalized citizen, is within striking distance of his dream.

The victor in three tournaments, Guerrero remains conscious of how quickly success fades. “Boxing is not a fairy tale,” he mused to the Washington Post, but he does relish happy endings, like his defeat of the country’s top-ranked boxer. Victory was great, but Guerrero craved more. “I wanted to be with the Olympians. I wanted to be one of them.”

Fernando Guerrero, right, of Salisbury, MD., backs away from a left by Shawn Porter, Left, of Cuyhahoga Falls, Ohio, during their 165-pound bout at the U.S. Boxing Championships in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Friday, June 8, 2007.  Guerrero won the title fight. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)
Fernando Guerrero, right, of Salisbury, MD., backs away from a left by Shawn Porter, Left, of Cuyhahoga Falls, Ohio, during their 165-pound bout at the U.S. Boxing Championships in Colorado Springs, Colo.,...   (Associated Press)
Jonathan Nelson, left, of Little Rock, Ark., and Fernando Guerrero, right, of Salisbury, Md., fight it out in the 165-pound semi-final bout at the U.S. Boxing Championships in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Wednesday, June 6, 2007.  Guerrero won the fight. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)
Jonathan Nelson, left, of Little Rock, Ark., and Fernando Guerrero, right, of Salisbury, Md., fight it out in the 165-pound semi-final bout at the U.S. Boxing Championships in Colorado Springs, Colo.,...   (Associated Press)
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