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Yuriorkis Gamboa Loses to Journeyman Robinson Castellanos by Stunning TKO! – Breaking Boxing News

Gamboa HeaderBy Joshua “City” Brewer

Golden Boy Promotions put on a solid show on Cinco De Mayo as a thirst quencher for the Canelo Alvarez Vs Julio Cesar Chavez, JR., on Saturday, May 6, 2017. The show was headlined by former Olympic Gold Medalist Yuriorkis Gamboa as the 35 year old looks to get his career back on track after a number of inactive years. The card was televised live on ESPN 2.

The main event was Yuriorkis Gamboa, 26-2, 17 KO’s against Robinson Castellanos, 24-12, 14 KO’s. Gamboa looked decent from round one as he landed a few good shots on Castellanos and looked as though he was stronger fighter. We got a bit of back and forth in the second round and Castellanos showed that he was a game fighter as he landed several overhand rights on Gamboa who frequently left his hands low towards his waist. Castellanos dropped Gamboa with a hard-straight right at the end of round three and Gamboa was visibly hurt. The bell rang before Castellanos was able to capitalize upon Gamboa answering the count. Gamboa was once again dropped with a big straight right hand at the start of the fourth. Gamboa was able to answer the count but was repeatedly hit with the cleaner shots as the round went on. Having the heart of a lion, Gamboa chose to fight fire with fire though he wasn’t very effective.

The fifth round was more of a drop off in action compared to the previous but the momentum seemed to have fully swung in the favor of Castellano as Gamboa looked lackluster with his offensive and defensive efforts. Rounds six through seven followed a similar script as Gamboa took heavy shots towards the end of the seventh. Shockingly, Gamboa was unable to answer the bell for the eighth round as he told his corner to stop the fight. Castellano, the major underdog, got a great technical knockout victory to add to his resume and will likely be looking for another big fight after this showcase.

Gamboa’s story is all too familiar in boxing as we’ve seen many faded former champions who relied on athleticism try to revive careers at points in which their reflexes have all but left them astray. This will be a tough loss for Gamboa to swallow and he should take a long, hard look at his future and whether retirement is his best option. Castellano was a game but limited fighter who would have been hard pressed to last a full round with Gamboa at his peak. That being said, each fighter has something marvelous in their future should they choose the right paths.

For Castellano, he may get the biggest payday of his career next and will have deserved it. For Gamboa, he can look back on a career that saw many highs, though there will always be the question of “What if?”

Golden Boy Promotions put on another good show as we continue to see a lot of great action in 2017. May the future remain bright.

The co-main event of the night featured Abraham Lopez, 22-1-1, 15 KO’s Vs Jesus Rojas, 25-1-2, 18 KO’s, in a fairly exciting fight. Lopez was dropped twice in the fight early on with each being the first knockdowns of his professional career. Rojas stalked Lopez the entire fight often trapping him against the ropes as he wailed on him with ruthless aggression. In the eighth round, Rojas went in for the kill and unloaded with unanswered punches to once again drop Lopez. Lopez answered the count at the very last minute and was allowed to continue. He didn’t improve at all and took more punishment before referee Tony Weeks stepped in the call the fight off at the 1:47 mark.

The opening bout saw Yamaguchi Falcao, 13-0, 6 KO’s take on Morgan Fitch, 18-1-1, 8 KO’s. This was a battle of two undefeated fighters each looking to move on to better paydays. It was apparent early on that Falcao was the more athletic of the two as he landed clean shots and combinations. Falcao was decidedly more active throughout and had a very dominant sixth round where we started to see him truly separate himself from Fitch. As the fight winded down, Fitch was practically non existent from an offensive standpoint. In the end the fight went all 10 rounds and the judges saw it as a deserved unanimous decision for Falcao.

In the next bout Vergil Ortiz, 5-0, 5 KO’s got off to an early and aggressive start looking to make short work of Angel Sarinana, 7-6-2, 3 KO’s. Ortiz caught Sarinana with a fight altering right uppercut in the third that landed clean on the button as Sarinana was coming in with his head down. Sarinana was somehow able to answer the count but referee Jack Reiss stopped the fight giving Ortiz the technical knockout victory. His knockout streak extends for another fight as he progresses in his young career.

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