Guy Robb, right, plants a hard right hook on Carlos Padilla and would drop Padilla in round 4.
Saturday at 6 p.m. is another chance to size up the competition for each fighter at the Fallon Fights in the official weigh-in before gloves touch Saturday at the fairgrounds. For featherweight contender Guy Robb, it’s just one more evening’s wait until the fight of his career.
Though Robb (18-1, 8 KO’s) and his NABO Featherweight Championship opponent Miguel Marriaga out of Cartegena, Colo., (23-1, 19 KO’s) are the names to look for, Robb has one thing in common with Reno’s Oscar Vasquez and several others down the bill, being this is his first 10-round fight in a six year career.
“I’m feeling good, I’m feeling ready and I’m feeling excited,” Robb said with the title on the line. “Excited to be the NABO champion and the No. 1 NABO mandatory. I can’t wait.”
Saturday will also be Robb’s first appearance at the Fallon Fights in its nine years of bringing professional boxing rural Nevada. Like most of the other fighters, Robb has never seen Marriaga toe-to-toe outside of videos in the gym, but when it comes to picking apart a fighter’s technique, he said he’s feeling confident.
“He like to be in charge of the tempo and he likes to pressure at his own pace and engage when he is ready,” Robb said on Marriaga’s endurance and care. “I plan on using the jab to control him and being the boss, controlling the pace myself.”
The Sacramento, Calif., native may have yet to dance in a professional 10-round bout, but Robb and his crew from the Golden State Bloodhounds are more than used to the level of competition, which Robb said he considers an advantage going up against a more pragmatic fighter like Marriaga.
“I would say I can go non-stop for 10-rounds whereas he likes to take his time,” Robb said. “He likes to be active on his own terms. I just have to stay focused and not give him too many shots because he’s powerful. It’s all just about staying focused.”
Competing under the same gym he’s been with since his pro career began in 2010, Robb boasts sparring partners such as Pedro Moreno, a fellow Sacramento native currently 2-0 with two knockouts, who have helped him fight in 10-12 round practice bouts to build his endurance for this title matchup.
“The gym that I come from is just rough and rugged and this ain’t nothing new to me,” Robb said. “This is how we train and this is how we do it. If anything we might’ve cut back a little bit so we could recover completely and be ready to go gathering up all our strength, ready to perform.”
It’s fair to say boxing fans would’ have first known Robb from his Showtime payperview loss to Joel Diaz, one of his first eight round bouts, and since then Robb said he has learned a lot from the defeat, growing and working hard with the Bloodhounds where he feels most comfortable.
“They just taught me everything I know,” he said. “I’ve been with this gym the whole time. These are my friends and my people and we’ve been working, learning and building until now we’re here.”
Since that defeat, victories over Rondel Green, Daniel Ramirez and the formerly undefeated Pable Amensa, all notches on the belt Robb hopes to wear after this weekend to stay with the 10-round circuit.
“To become a world champion,” Robb said of his priorities for his future as a fighter. “That’s what we’re doing this for and that’s what we’re all striving for here, to become the best.”