By Frank Gonzalez Jr. October 4th, 2008 – In the Main Event at the Pechanga Casino in Temecula California, the fighter HBO wants to make into a big star, Yuriorkis Gamboa (12-0, 10 KO’s) faced Marcos Ramirez (25-1, 16 KO’s) in an exciting fight that lasted two rounds. Ramirez looked to be the sharper puncher in the first round, landing the first significant punch and following up with some clean shots that rocked Gamboa early.
Ramirez was darting in and out with big hooking lefts. He caught Gamboa with a left and then, as Gamboa moved in, Ramirez clocked him with a right that turned his head and saw Gamboa go down. There was an elbow that snuck in there, possibly helping Ramirez score that flash knockdown. Gamboa got up quickly and took an eight count. He looked fine and was revving to continue.
Action resumed and Gamboa looked stable, increased his pace and tried to land some big shots of his own. Most of what Gamboa threw only grazed Ramirez, who landed a big left hook into the face of Gamboa, who immediately clinched. During the final exchange, Gamboa pressed Ramirez into the ropes awkwardly. The round ended shortly after. 10-8 Ramirez.
In the second round, Gamboa came out winging a windmill of punches. Ramirez slipped those shots and again, landed a left to the face. Gamboa then landed a flurried combination of upper cuts and this time Ramirez was on the receiving end of a flash knockdown. Ramirez got up quick enough and action resumed. Gamboa was going for the kill and sure enough, caught Ramirez with a parting shot, a hooking right uppercut that saw Ramirez go down. Ramirez stood down on a knee and was getting up by 9. The referee, Jerry Cantu accelerated the count to ten too fast and quickly and waved it off as Ramirez got up. Ramirez did look ready to continue, but he didn’t complain and that was all there was to that.
Had the ref counted at a normal pace, (one, one thousand, two, one thousand…nine one thousand, instead of, “Eight, one thousand…Nine, Ten!” Ramirez should have been able to continue but it looked to me that Ramirez had fulfilled his obligation and just left it alone.
Kudos to Yuriorkis Gamboa, for demonstrating his ability to get up off the canvas and win by knockout in the following round. Kudos also to Jerry Cantu, who fulfilled his obligation to insure Gamboa got the desired outcome.
Anyone ever imagine what boxing would be like if the referees and judges were not so obviously biased and beholden to a particular fighter? I do.
Unlike Alfredo Angulo, it will be a while before we see Gamboa take on a serious contender, so in the meantime, enjoy the show as his handlers set him up with fights he should easily win.
It was a bit strange to see a young up and coming prospect like Gamboa be the Main Event on HBO. The first fight between Sergio Martinez and ring relic Alex Bunema was a totally predictable mismatch. Alfredo Angulo vs. Andre Tsurkan was the most competitive fight of the evening—but that fight was a mismatch too, as Angulo arguably won every round. But Tsurkan, unlike Bunema or Ramirez, was there to win and not just be, “an opponent.” Angulo proved he deserves the high esteem he gets, as he was too skillful and too strong for the very game and never lame Andre Tsurkan.
I guess HBO thinks we just want to see guys like Gamboa, Angulo and Martinez against opponents that will lose. I can only speak for myself but I’d prefer competitive fights over totally predictable ones. A better fight card would have opened with the young star in the making, Yuriorkis Gamboa and Angulo vs. Martinez, as the Main Event. At least that fight would not be so predictable. Martinez clearly has quality but to watch him fight the listless Alex Bunema was yawn inspiring.
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