Yuriorkis Gamboa: A Boxer That Could Have Been Special
By Travis Fleming
When Yuriorkis Gamboa broke into the professional ranks he was something to behold. Not since Mike Tyson had I seen someone come out of the gates with such electrifying explosiveness. Watching just one of his early pro fights had you thinking this guy was a once in a lifetime fighter; he was a dynamo. Within just a handful of pro bouts I had him pegged to be the future pound for pound king of boxing. He had the fastest hands in the sport, incredible power in each hand for a featherweight, unbelievable reflexes, a huge variety of punches, vicious killer instinct and he threw blindingly stinging combinations.
He had the skill to outbox, outspeed and outsmart opponents but Gamboa was one of those rare talents that also had the ability to use those assets to put an opponents lights out and he wasn’t afraid to trade punches to do it. He was the best natural talent boxing had seen for many years and big things were expected.
From his early ESPN fights, he was a buzzsaw scoring highlight reel knockout after highlight reel knockout against impressive opposition for someone new to the paid ranks. He touched the canvass a couple of times himself, in off balance flash knockdowns, but instantly got up to take out his opponents. Such is the price you pay when you come out with guns blazing to make a statement instead of using a superior skill set to cruise to a points win.
Gamboa was one of the best amateur fighters ever so it was no surprise that his amateur experienced led to him being fast tracked through the pro ranks against better opposition than that of which ninety nine percent of fighters face until they are within the fifteen to twenty five fight range. As an amateur, he had over 250 fights and captured a gold medal in the flyweight division at the 2004 Olympics. He was likely going to take home his second Olympic gold at the 2008 games but he managed to sneak out of Cuba and turn proffessional a little over a year before they occurred.
Growing up as a product of the incredible Cuban boxing school, he was denied the chance to become a pro fighter until he dangerously defected from Cuba in December of 2007. Along with fellow Cuban national team members Yan Barthelemy and Odlanier Solis, Gamboa fled from training in Venezuela to neighboring Columbia. From there, he would make his way to Miami. In Miami, all three fighters signed with German based Arena Box Promotions which was ran by Ahmet Oner. They made their way to Germany and applied for US visas. After begining his career with five fights in Germany, Gamboa was granted a US visa and would fight primarily out of America for the rest of his career.
Gamboa left Cuba to make a better life for himself and his family with hopes of becoming as decorated as a pro as he was in the Amateur ranks. To help his family out, prior to defecting, he sold his Olympic gold medal and gave his family the money he earned for it. Gamboa was ready to prove that he was one of the greatest fighters on the planet and was well on his way to doing just that. At 27 years old when he defected, Gamboa didn’t have a huge window of opportunity to prove his greatness since most lighter weight fighters are passed their best days by their early thirties. To make up for lost time, Gamboa was regularly fighting every month or two and gradually improving his opposition level each time out until he got a title shot within just a couple of years of turning pro.
Gamboa would never fight an opponent with a losing record. His first fight was against a fighter that was 6-1, his second opponent was 7-0, his sixth was 25-1! He would make his American debut in October of 2007, in his seventh fight, with a spectacular sixth round stoppage of Adailton De Jesus who was 19-1. De Jesus would later end up going the distance with Mexican all time great Marco Antonio Barerra. From that point until he became a champion, Gamboa would be a marquee fighter on ESPN’s friday night fights, showcasing his incredible speed and power. A few fights later, he would face former world championship challenger Al Seeger who was 27-3. His highlight reel first round knockout of Seeger was a lightning quick short right hand that instantly knocked Seeger unconcious and sent him, almost gracefully, rolling out on to the canvass like a carpet in one of the most impressive looking knockouts of the decade. By the time Gamboa fought Jose Rojas for the interim WBA world featherweight title in just his fifteenth fight, his proffessional opposition held an astounding combined record of 283 wins against only 44 losses. He would stop Rojas in the tenth round to win his first world championship and would create heavy demand for a unification showdown with fellow featherweight champion, and Puerto Rican knockout artist Juan Manuel Lopez. Lopez, better known by his nickname “Juanma”, was the star of the division and had a huge following.
In October of 2009, Juanma struggled for the first time and won a controversial decision over African journeyman Rogers Mtagwa. To create further demand for a fight with Lopez, Gamboa would take on Mtagwa just three months later and one up Juanma by destroying Mtagwa in just the second round. Gamboa would follow the Mtagwa win with a unanimous decision over undefeated, future champion, Johnathan Victor Barros. He would then face his best opponent to date in the ultimate tough guy, and two division champion, Orlando Salido. Against Salido in September of 2010, Gamboa showed he was the real deal by beating him by unanimous decision in more impressive fashion than Mexican all time great Juan Manuel Marquez did a few years earlier. After the Salido win, the demand for a super fight between Gamboa and Lopez was huge, but Bob Arum, who was now promoting both fighters, refused to let the fight happen as he was afraid to lose a bigger cash cow in Puerto Rican star Juanma in the likely event that he lost to Gamboa. Instead, Arum stated that he wanted to let the fight build and get bigger. Next, Arum would put Lopez in with faded ex champion Rafael Marquez. Marquez was past his prime and fighting above his natural weight but was still a big name so it was seen as a low risk, high reward fight for Juanma. Lopez expectedly won when a faded Marquez was unable to continue fighting after the 8th round.
In an effort to, what Arum claimed would, create even more hype for a fight between Gamboa and his star Juanma; he would put Juanma in with the man who gave Gamboa his toughest fight in Orlando Salido. While waiting for a Lopez fight, Gamboa would take on former Manny Pacquiao challenger Jorge Solis in March of 2011 while Juanma signed to fight Orlando Salido in April. Gamboa would once again prove his worth by dropping Solis numerous times and stopping him in round four which was four rounds quicker than Pacquiao stopped Solis a few years earlier.
In April of 2011, disaster would strike for Juan Manuel Lopez. Orlando Salido would beat him mercilessly in front of Juanma’s hometown fans in Puerto Rico and, in the process, he would kill Gamboas chances for a super fight and a big payday. There was no demand for Gamboa to have a rematch with Salido as he had won convincingly when they first fought, even though Salido was one of the few fighters in Gamboa’s twenty pro fights to win a couple of rounds against him.
Like many unsatisfied fighters had done in the past, and in the future, under Bob Arum’s Top Rank Promotions, Gamboa began to resent his promoter publicly for not getting him the fights he felt he deserved. His frustration specifically stemmed from his belief that Arum had protected Juanma from him and in the process ruined his chance for a signature win and a big payday. Perhaps to spite Arum, Gamboa started talking about the possibility of facing the much bigger Brandon Rios who was also fighting for Top Rank. Rios was becoming a big name but he was a champion two weight divisions up at lightweight and was already outgrowing the division. Gamboa was a small featherweight, having fought through most his twenties as a flyweight in the amateurs which is six weight classes lower than the lightweight division that Rios was already getting too big for.
Still, Arum was not yet ready to risk a fighter that was a bigger name against the ultra skilled Gamboa, despite the size differential. Instead, Gamboa would square off with former, and future, champ Daniel Ponce De Leon in September of 2011. The fight was stopped in the eighth round due to a cut on Ponce De Leon’s forehead that was caused by an accidental clash of heads. Gamboa would be awarded the decision after winning all eight rounds of action.
By this point in time, Gamboa was clearly the top fighter at featherweight and he was being ranked among the top ten pound for pound fighters in the world. He was still talking about fighting two divisions heavier against lightweight champion Brandon Rios. Gamboa was now 30 years old and desperately needed a signature win before his athleticism began to decline. He already had a lot of mileage with 21 pro fights, in just four years, on top of an incredible 250 amateur bouts.
It appeared Arum gave in to fan pressure to finally let Gamboa have his big fight. Brandon Rios versus Gamboa was reportedly finalized on Feb 16th, 2012 for an April 14th showdown in Las Vegas. Tickets were sold and press conferences were set, but Gamboa never showed up to either of the press conferences. He skipped out on both press conferences in Miami on march 6th, and in LA on March 7th. A little while later he was seen at Floyd Mayweather’s gym in Las Vegas and told Ring Magazine that he was unhappy with his $1.1 million dollar purse for the bout and that he had never signed a contract. He later said that because he was still in negotiation for bigger money, he had no reason to go to a press conference. Later, Gamboa would also say that upon telling Top Rank he wasn’t coming to the press conferences, they told him there was no way they could cancel this and that he should just show up and be there. Rumors started to surface that Gamboa was not happy with the way Top Rank had steared his career and that he was looking to jump ship to another promoter. Bob Arum’s Top Rank sued Gambia for breach of contract and stated that he’s still under contract to Top Rank so he cannot fight for any other promoter.
This was devastating to Gamboa’s career. At 30 he was not only lacking a signature win, but now also lacking the prospect of one happening in the near future. By all accounts, it seemed he was destined to sit out for a couple of years nearing the end of his prime until he was freed from his contractual obligations to Top Rank. Most felt that by the time that could happen, ring rust and aging would likely take its toll on Gamboa.
Gamboa had formed a friendship with Floyd Mayweather Jr and, through him, met rapper 50 cent. Mayweather and 50 cent were going to start a promotional company together and, rumors were, Gamboa was going to sign with them. Eventually, the duo of Mayweather and 50 cent went their seperate ways so 50 cent started up SMS Boxing Promotions on his own. In June of 2012, it was reported that Top Rank had dropped their lawsuit against Gamboa and allowed him to sign with 50 cent’s SMS Boxing Promotions after 50 cent bought out Gamboa’s contract for 1 million dollars.
Fans were happy to hear Gamboa was coming back, but skeptical about whether or not 50 cent would be a capable promoter with no experience. Gamboa’s first fight with 50 cent was lined up for December of 2012. He would be moving up in weight to face Filipino Michael Farrenas for the interim WBA super featherweight world championship. Farrenas was a tough contender with a good punch and he was naturally much bigger than Gamboa. The Farrenas fight would be over a year after Gamboa’s last fight which marked the longest he had gone without a bout since he was a young kid in Cuba. This was an extremely long layoff for a guy that was aging, nearing the end of his prime, and used to staying sharp by fighting a busy schedule of bouts. It was also five divisions heavier than where Gamboa spent the majority of his twenties. Gamboa came into the ring looking more muscular than ever. During the layoff, he had gained weight and turned it into muscle. As is often the case, the extra weight and muscle hindered Gamboa. Although he won a rather comfortable decision, he did not show his trade mark speed or ferocity and he wasn’t able to keep up to his typically torrent fighting pace. Also, it seemed his typically huge power wasn’t as concusive against the bigger men a division up. It was evident that age was catching up to him and that he was beginning to decline. It was also clear to see that the year off in his prime, coupled with the weight gain on his already maxed out frame, meant that we had seen the last of a prime Yuriorkis Gamboa back in December of 2011.
Gamboa was not the fighter he once was, and never got the chance to show how special he was in his prime, but he was still good enough to be a world champion and beat some very good fighters. In June of 2013, as maxed out in weight as he already was, he would put on even more weight in an attempt to become a three division world champion by facing Darleys Perez for the interim WBA world lightweight championship. Gamboa was small and extremely muscle bound at lightweight, but still had enough in his tank to beat Perez, becoming a 3 weight champion in the process.
As expected, 50 cent wasn’t able to just jump right into boxing and become a top tier promoter overnight. As a result, Gamboa sat on the shelf for another full year before his next fight. A year off was the last thing Gamboa needed and now, at 32 years old, he was matched against rising pound for pound superstar Terrence Crawford. Crawford dwarfed Gamboa, he was a giant lightweight and is now fighting a division higher at junior welterweight. Crawford is a supremely skilled operator and was only 26 years old whent hey fought. Crawford is also one of the best fighters in the sport today. Beating Crawford would have been a hard task in Gamboa’s prime at a comfortable weight class for him. It proved an impossible task at lightweight and past his best days. The much younger and much bigger Crawford would hand Gamboa his only career defeat. Gamboa gave a valiant effort and won a round or two but was knocked down multiple times and stopped in round nine with a highlight reel knockout in one of the fights of the year. Gamboa showed the heart of champion in this fight, when he knew he couldn’t win on points, and was taking a severe beating for several rounds, he still swung for the fences to try and score a hail mary knockout. He fought til the end and he went out on his shield. Crawford would end up being the fighter of the year in 2014, largely due to his performance against Gamboa.
Gamboa returned in November of 2014 and won a decision in Mexico against Joel Montes de Oca who had a record of 18-3. Gamboa is definitely past his prime at 33 years old but, now that Crawford has moved up in weight, Gamboa is still good enough to beat the majority of best of super featherweight’s and lightweight’s in the world. I would suspect that Gamboa only has another year or two left at the top contender level, but if he can get the fights, expect Gamboa to pick up another world championship before he finishes a very respectable career that unfortunately never lived up to what it could have been.
Can you imagine where Gamboa would be today had he been allowed to turn pro at 19 years old? Had he not had a the huge periods of inactivity in his prime? Had he gotten the Juanma fight and remained at featherweight? He very well might have gotten to Nonito Donaire before his countryman Guillermo Rigondeaux. He could have had two, possibly three, signature wins and then moved up to collect belts at super featherweight and lightweight. He could have been ranked in the top three pound for pound figthers in the world and gone down as one of the greatest fighters of his generation.
