Yuriorkis Gamboa

Did Yuriorkis Gamboa fail his audition for a Vasyl Lomachenko fight?

Did Yuriorkis Gamboa fail his audition for a Vasyl Lomachenko fight?

Cuban talent and one-time pound-for-pound star Yuriorkis Gamboa returned to the ring on last night’s David Lemieux-Curtis Stevens card in New York, but unlike the main event, Gamboa’s decision win over Rene Alvarado failed to electrify the crowd. Boxing for the first time since December of 2015, former featherweight king Gamboa had to make do with a reasonably wide ten round UD.

Now aged 35 and a Golden Boy fighter, Gamboa improved to 26-1(17) but he failed to impress; even suffering a flash knockdown late on in last night’s bout. Gamboa had been hoping for a big fight with reigning WBO super-featherweight champ Vasyl Lomachenko (and probably still is) but it’s unlikely the Cuban defector did much to increase his chances.

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David Lemieux smashes Curtis Stevens

David Lemieux smashes Curtis Stevens

In a match up that was guaranteed to end in a knock out, David Lemieux (37-3, 33 KOs) lived up to his promise of taking out Curtis “The Cerebral Assassin” Stevens (29-6, 21 KOs) in a jaw-dropping third round stoppage to claim the WBO Intercontinental and WBC Continental Americas Middleweight belts live from Turning Stone Resort Casino and televised on HBO Boxing After Dark.

“I told you what I was going to do tonight,” said David Lemieux. “What I saw was a ‘check mate’,” said Lemieux. “The punch was made with perfect landing. I am in great shape, and I prepared myself for him. He is physically strong but nothing special. Stevens is a solid fighter, and we were successful. I wish him the best, and I hope he is OK.”

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Yuriorkis Gamboa says Top Rank are keeping Vasyl Lomachenko away from him

Yuriorkis Gamboa says Top Rank are keeping Vasyl Lomachenko away from him

It would be a superb match-up between two of the finest boxers currently doing their thing in the lower weight classes, and Yuriorkis Gamboa wants it: a fight with the man promoter Bob Arum has gone as far as to say is the best he has ever seen – Vasyl Lomachenko. Gamboa, back training with Ismael Salas, ha snot fought since December of last year, but he is currently training and a fight will hopefully be announced soon.

Gamboa, a former champion at featherweight as well as an interim champ at 130-pounds, has been defeated just once in his pro career – in that thriller with new pound-for-pound star Terence Crawford – and he said on Twitter shortly after watching Crawford’s master class of a win over Viktor Postol how he gave Crawford a much tougher fight and this is why Top Rank are “keeping Vasyl Lomachenko away from me.”

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Decline of the Lightweight Division

On Saturday night Lightweight champion Terence Crawford delivered a breakout performance. The Omaha native showed speed, great technical ability and power, dropping Yuriorkis Gamboa four times en route to a ninth round stoppage win. The question now is, where does he go from here?

The answer is that he has to move up to Light Welterweight to get the big fights. Crawford’s victory has shone a light on the decline of the once great Lightweight division.

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Terence Crawford KO’s Yuriorkis Gamboa

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Terence Crawford not only transitioned from orthodox to southpaw, he pulled off a much bigger metamorphosis going from eastern Nebraska to the top of the world. That came as no surprise to the ten thousand plus fans on hand at the Century Link Center, Omaha, Nebraska. They already knew something that the rest of the world was only beginning to see. That pearl of knowledge is Terence “Hunter/Bud” Crawford is one helleva fighter!

If you watch the History Channel, you know Omaha is not only a good sized city on the banks of the Missouri River, it is also the name of the famous beach where allied troops landed on D-Day in June of 1944. It was the beginning of the end for the Axis Powers. Crawford pulled off his own D-Day when he transitioned from orthodox to southpaw in the third round of his battle with the undefeated Cuban sensation named Yuriorkis Gamboa.

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Terence Crawford takes a big step towards superstardom with sizzling stoppage win over Yuriorkis Gamboa

Terence Crawford takes a big step towards superstardom with sizzling stoppage win over Yuriorkis Gamboa

WBO lightweight king Terence Crawford looked superb last night in handing former amateur superstar Yuriorkis Gamboa his first pro defeat. Too big, tall and rangy he may have been for former featherweight Gamboa, but nothing should be taken from Crawford’s win. Looking for all the world like a Thomas Hearns clone, Crawford displayed power, accuracy, speed and, most of the time – barring the occasion in the 9th-round when he was hurt before turning things back around in his favour – patience.

Gamboa, at a major disadvantage in terms of reach, had to, as commentator Larry Merchant said, “try and make things happen,” and in doing so, by coming in and trying to land dome hurt on his taller opponent, the Cuban talent put himself at serious risk. Crawford of course took advantage of this and buzzed his challenger a number of times. Only Gamboa’s ridiculous heart and courage kept him in the fight, and Gamboa even stated post-fight that, after the second hurtful knockdown of the 9th and final round, he’d wanted to continue.

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Crawford beats Gamboa

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If you would have told me before the Terrance Crawford (24-0) and Yuriorkis Gamboa’s (23-1) Saturday night tilt (contested in Omaha…known the world over as the fight capital of Nebraska) that Crawford was going to win by a tenth round stoppage I would have said…okay, fine. Crawford is a talented, skilled boxer fighting in his hometown. He’s also significantly bigger than Gamboa, both in terms of height and natural weight class, and he’s looked far sharper in his recent bouts. So yeah, a tenth round stoppage seems about right. But if you would have told me that Crawford and Gamboa would also be sort of a spectacularly entertaining life or death slugfest, and probably the leading candidate for fight of the year, I would have said no that won’t happen: I don’t care if you’re clairvoyant or from the future or whatever your deal is, but you’re wrong. A blown-up featherweight coming off a slow paced tap-fest over a year ago against a defensively responsible counter-puncher could never be a fight of the year candidate and really, it’s idiotic to suggest otherwise. And yet Saturday night happened.

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Crawford stops Gamboa; Korobov decisions Uzcategui

Crawford stops Gamboa; Korobov decisions Uzcategui

WBO lightweight champion Terence Crawford (24-0, 17 KO’s) got off to a slow start in the first 4 rounds, but then came on to knock 32-year-old Yuriorkis Gamboa (23-1, 16 KO’s) down 4 times en route to stopping him in the 9th round tonight in a fight televised by HBO from the CenturyLink Center, in Omaha, Nebraska, USA.

Crawford was hurt in the 9th round after getting a little too overanxious trying to score a stoppage. But Crawford came back to knock Gamboa down twice with big punches to get the stoppage. Gamboa got back up after the second knockdown but the referee Genaro Rodriguez chose to stop the fight at 2:53 of the round.

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Is Gamboa’s fight against Crawford a last-gasp opportunity for him?

Is Gamboa’s fight against Crawford a last-gasp opportunity for him?

Former IBF/WBA featherweight champion Yuriorkis Gamboa (23-0, 16 KO’s) will be making one of his rare appearances this Saturday night in challenging WBO lightweight champion Terence Crawford (23-0, 16 KO’s) on HBO at the CenturyLink Center, in Omaha, Nebraska, USA.

Like an aging celebrity entertainer, Gamboa’s appearances in the ring have become infrequent despite the fact that he’s not tasted the big money that many fighters of his talent level have. Gamboa hasn’t fought since last year when he struggled to defeat Darleys Perez by a less than impressive 12 round unanimous decision in June of 2013.

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