Western High’s Gutierrez seeks first belt today

Jesus “Chuy” Gutierrez says he’s ready to take the next step in his boxing career.

The 25-year-old lightweight, a Western High School graduate, fights for his first belt tonight, facing Rashad Ganaway of Little Rock, Ark., in the eight-round main event of an outdoor card at Sunset Station, co-promoted by Pochiro Boxing and former world champion Roy Jones Jr. At stake is the World Boxing Council’s USA 135-pound title.

Gutierrez (12-0, four knockouts, one no decision) said he trained the same way for the title fight as he did for his first 13.

“As far as I’m concerned, every fight is a championship fight from now on,” he said Friday before the weigh-in.

Normally, a title fight is a minimum of 10 rounds. But the WBC waived the 10-round rule after the Nevada Athletic Commission refused to sanction the bout for 10 because Gutierrez has never fought beyond eight rounds and has only one fight that has gone eight.

A volume puncher who likes to go on the attack, Gutierrez has an exciting style that endears him to his fans. The majority of tonight’s crowd will be there to see Gutierrez, who stopped Pablo Becerra in 68 seconds in his last fight, on May 31 at the Tropicana.

“I’m grateful to my family and my friends for their support, and it’s great to have the fans behind me, but honestly, I haven’t done anything yet,” Gutierrez said. “To me, I’m still a nobody. I’m just another boxer from Las Vegas.”

Ganaway, 32, is 14-4-1 with nine knockouts. He is 4-3 in his past seven fights since losing an eight-round split decision to Mickey Bey in August 2009. A week ago, Bey won the International Boxing Federation lightweight title at the MGM Grand Garden, ending Miguel Vasquez’s five-year reign as champion.

Ganaway lost a 10-round unanimous decision to Juan Garcia in his last fight, on Nov. 16 in Phoenix. His last win was in March 2013, an eight-round majority decision over Justo Vallecillo in San Antonio.

Gutierrez isn’t impressed.

“I’m not Mickey Bey,” he said. “I’m not worried about what he does.”

The first bell for the six-bout card is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.