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BIG BROTHER IS WAITING

Robert 'The Ghost' Guerrero is physically prepared to take on future Hall of Famer Joel Casamayor ... but is he psychologically ready to face his one-time mentor?

The abs on the two-division world champion are washboard tight. His sinewy bicep muscles are ripped. Robert "The Ghost" Guerrero moves effortlessly around a boxing ring in San Jose, California, throwing lightning-quick combinations at mitts held by his trainer (and father), Ruben.

Guerrero is just two weeks from trading blows with future Hall of Famer Joel Casamayor, indisputably the most-famous fighter he's ever faced. No doubt, he's physically ready for the challenge.

But psychologically?  His manager, Bobby Santos, says "The Ghost" might have a hurdle to overcome July 31 at Mandalay Bay, when he battles a man who was once his mentor.

"Robert has seemed a bit more uptight for this fight than in any other training camp, and I think there might be a little bit of 'The Big Brother Syndrome' going on," Santos says. "Your big brother always pushed you around. Now, all of a sudden, you're a full-grown man, too, and maybe you're bigger and stronger than he is. But, psychologically, he's still in your head."

Guerrero was 17 years old, a newly minted pro, when he went to a Van Nuys gym and first laid eyes on "El Cepillo," the former Olympic gold medal-winner from Cuba and reigning world lightweight champion.

"Casamayor was hitting the heavy bag, not with his gloves, but with his elbows and forearms," Santos remembers. "And Robert just stood there staring, thinking, 'Hey, there's more to this pro game than just boxing.' He understands he'll be in the roughest fight of his life in a couple of weeks."

Casamayor took the 17-year-old under his wing. They trained together. They ran together. They talked technique and strategy and tricks. And now, a decade later, they're headed for a collision that could dramatically alter each man's career. The 27-year-old Guerrero (26-1-1, 18 KOs)  appears to finally be in the fast lane toward the biggest names in the lightweight and junior welterweight divisions: Juan Manuel Marquez, Juan Diaz, maybe Manny Pacquiao. He can't afford a loss to any 39-year-old opponent. Casamayor (37-4-1, 22 KOs), meanwhile, undoubtedly will be put out to pasture if he loses this one. It's his last-ditch effort to get back in the title hunt.

"Joel taught me a lot of stuff in the earliest part of my career. We had a lot of fun running together," Guerrero says. "He taught me all about elbows, low blows and head butts, too, so I know what to look out for."

Casamayor, in fact, ranks among the dirtiest fighters who ever pulled on a pair of boxing gloves. He'll gladly give away a penalty point in exchange for any physical or psychological edge he might get from a cheap shot on his opponent. That's hardly the style of Guerrero -- a class act in and out of the ring -- but the former featherweight and super featherweight world champ says he won't back down from the Cuban bad boy.

"You've got to keep a guy honest. You've got to let him know you're there to fight -- not get pushed around -- so I'll do what I need to do in there. My plan, though, is just to hit him hard ... make him hurt that way."

And Guerrero hopes to eliminate any "Big Brother Syndrome" immediately -- as early as the prefight stare-down in the center of the ring.

"I'm going to stare him down," he says. "Casamayor is a guy who tries to intimidate you, pump fear into you, beat you down psychologically. You can't let a guy win that way."

And the games have begun. Casamayor recently posted a photo on Twitter of his birthday cake, inscribed with the words, "Good night, Guerrero! El Cepillo."

"That's all psychological warfare. He's just trying to get under my skin," Guerrero said. "Ain't gonna work."