Yuriorkis Gamboa Headlines the Boxing Weekend
By Geno McGahee
Friday
ESPN 2’s Friday Night Fights
This Friday, Erislandy Lara, 15-0, 10 KO’s, will come to ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights this week, as he takes on Carlos Molina, 17-4-1, 5 KO’s, in a ten round light middleweight match. Lara is a Cuban southpaw that has knocked out his last four opponents in the first round, and is going into this fight with a full head of steam.
Molina has not lost since 2007 and has never been knocked out. He is no push over for Lara and will be a strong challenge for the Cuban amateur star.
Saturday
HBO
The WBA and IBF Featherweight Titles will be on the line as the champion, Yuriorkis Gamboa, 19-0, 15 KO’s, takes on Jorge Solis, 40-2-2, 29 KO’s, on HBO. Gamboa has made a name for himself quickly and has some big names on the horizon with possible showdowns with Juan Manuel Lopez and Nonito Donaire, but he has a tough challenge ahead on him on Saturday.
Solis has only been knocked out once and that was by Manny Pacquiao, and has been on a great streak lately, upsetting the undefeated Francisco Cordero in his last fight. Considering that he has only been stopped once and Gamboa has gone the full twelve in his last two, we may be in for a very interesting and surprising evening.