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
In This Corner, a Boxer Jabbing at a Dream
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)   (Associated Press)

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.” (More boxing stories.)

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