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Gamboa Says Speed and Power Will Bring Him Past Crawford

Published

11 years ago

May 8, 2014

The Sweet Science

OMAHA! OMAHA! OMAHA!

TERENCE CRAWFORD vs. YURIORKIS GAMBOA

RETURNS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING

TO OMAHA AFTER 42-YEAR HIATUS!

Saturday, June 28, at CenturyLink Center Omaha

Live on HBO Boxing After Dark®

Tickets Go On Sale

Tomorrow! Friday, May 9 at 10 A.M. CT

OMAHA, NEB. (May 8, 2014) – Undefeated world champions TERENCE CRAWFORD , the Pride of Omaha, and Cuban sensation YURIORKIS GAMBOA, who share identical 23-0 (16 KOs) professional ring records, will battle for Crawford’s newly-won World Boxing Organization (WBO) lightweight title, Saturday, June 28, at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha. This will be the first world championship fight Omaha has hosted in 42 years, when Joe Frazier successfully defended his heavyweight title against Nebraska’s-own Ron Stander in 1972. It is also a professional homecoming for Crawford, who has not fought in his home state since 2011. The fight will be televised live on HBO Boxing After Dark , in its first-ever visit to Omaha, beginning at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT.

Promoted by Top Rank®, in association with SMS Promotions, PS4 and Tecate, tickets to Crawford vs. Gamboa will go on sale Tomorrow! Friday, May 9 at 10:00 a.m. CT. Reserved seat tickets start at just $27, with remaining tiers priced at $52 and $102. They will be available for purchase at the CenturyLink Center Omaha box office and all Ticketmaster outlets. To charge-by-phone call 800-745-3000. To order online, visit Ticketmaster.com.

“This is what I always wanted to do, make my first world title defense in Omaha where I grew up,” said Crawford. “As soon as this fight was announced my phone and Facebook lit up. Everyone wants to be at this fight. This is extremely exciting, something I always dreamed about. Gamboa is fast and he hits with power. This is a serious fight. I fought and beat a lot of great fighters as an amateur. I was at 132 pounds then and Gamboa, as an amateur, was 112. But now we are about to go at it. I plan to train in Colorado Springs. During fight week, I will be away from the main fight hotel. It’ll be me and just my team to be by ourselves in the final days leading to the biggest fight of my life. It’s been a long ride to get here but at last my dream has come true. This will be a great action-packed fight.”

“I am glad to be back in the ring and continue my quest at being recognized as one the best in the sport,” said Gamboa. “I know that Crawford is a great talent and a good champion and I welcome the chance at beating one of the best in the lightweight division.

I know all about him. There is one major difference – my speed and my power. I am going right into his hometown because I know I will win. I want that title belt. Certainly by beating him, God willing – I know that bigger and better opportunities will come. It is time to remind fans all around the world that El Ciclon de Guantanamo is here for the long run.”

“When we made this fight Terence asked me to please make the tickets reasonable for all of his fans. We did exactly that at $102, $52 and $27,” said Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum. “He is so happy. This is a great event, the first big championship boxing event in over 40 years in this wonderful city Terence Crawford and Yuriorkis Gamboa are considered to be the two best lightweights in the world. We are looking forward to a great action fight.”

“After 42 years, it’s going to be a historical moment in Omaha. Gamboa and Crawford have identical records so it’s surely going to be an amazing showdown,” commented 50 Cent.

“This fight brings together two prodigious, undefeated talents,” said Peter Nelson, director of programming, HBO Sports. “A few months ago, Terence Crawford earned his first world title the hard way, traversing the Atlantic Ocean to beat down the then lightweight champ in his hometown in Scotland. Now, intrepid Cuban sensation Yuri Gamboa heads to Crawford’s own backyard of Omaha, attempting to wrest his second divisional title from the newly-crowned champ. As both men can tell you, there is no such thing as a hometown advantage against a straight right hand or a left hook from a man from out of town. The creativity of these two elite fighters pit against each other in the ring will undoubtedly elevate esteem for the winner with fans everywhere.”

“CenturyLink Center Omaha is proud to host this significant event,” said Roger Dixon, President and CEO of the Metropolitan Entertainment & Convention Authority (MECA). “Not only will we have a high-profile title fight, but the defending world champion is a hometown hero. This will truly be unprecedented for our venue and our community.”

Crawford (23-0, 16 KOs), of Omaha, is only the second Nebraska native to be recognized as a boxing world champion. Perry “Kid” Graves, from Rock Bluff, captured the welterweight crown, knocking out Johnny Alberts in Brooklyn, in 1914, according to the Omaha World-Herald. After a short but impressive amateur career, which included victories over future world champions Danny Garcia, Mikey Garcia and one-time world title challenger Diego Magdaleno, Crawford made his professional debut on March 14, 2008 – a first-round knockout victory of Brian Cummings. On March 1, 2014 – just 13 days short of the sixth anniversary of his pro debut, Crawford captured the WBO lightweight title, dethroning defending champion Ricky Burns on Burns’ home turf of Glasgow, Scotland. Scoring a powerful and unanimous decision, Burns put the boxing world on notice that with his virtuoso performance. Crawford pulled out all stops in dismantling Burns as he rocked the defending champion throughout the fight, while switching back and forth between orthodox and southpaw stances.

Gamboa (23-0, 16 KOs), of Miami, Fla., captured Olympic gold for the Cuban team in 2004, fighting in the 112-pound division. Known as “The Cyclone of Guantanamo,” Gamboa defected to freedom in 2007 the same year he made his professional debut. Two years and 14 bouts later, in 2009, he won the World Boxing Association’s (WBA) Interim Featherweight Championship via a 10th-round stoppage of Jose Rojas. Soon elevated to full world champion status, Gamboa successfully defended the WBA title five times during his two-year reign, which included unifying the title with a 12-round decision victory over International Boxing Federation (IBF) World Champion Orlando Salido. Gamboa captured the WBA Interim super featherweight title in 2012, winning a dominant unanimous decision over Michael Farenas. In his last fight, on June 8, 2013, Gamboa captured the WBA Interim lightweight title, handing undefeated Darleys Perez, a former Colombian Olympian, his first professional defeat. Gamboa scored the unanimous decision victory by outboxing and outworking Perez throughout their fight.

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2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

9 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

The WBC World Super Featherweight title bout between Francisco Vargas and Takashi Miura came on one of the biggest boxing stages of 2015, as the bout served as the HBO pay-per-view’s co-main event on November 21st, in support of Miguel Cotto vs Saul Alvarez.

Miura entered the fight with a (29-2-2) record and he was making the fifth defense of his world title, while Vargas entered the fight with an undefeated mark of (22-0-1) in what was his first world title fight. Both men had a reputation for all-out fighting, with Miura especially earning high praise for his title defense in Mexico where he defeated Sergio Thompson in a fiercely contested battle.

The fight started out hotly contested, and the intensity never let up. Vargas seemed to win the first two rounds, but by the fourth round, Miura seemed to pull ahead, scoring a knock-down and fighting with a lot of confidence. After brawling the first four rounds, Miura appeared to settle into a more technical approach. Rounds 5 and 6 saw the pendulum swing back towards Vargas, as he withstood Miura’s rush to open the fifth round and the sixth round saw both men exchanging hard punches.

The big swinging continued, and though Vargas likely edged Miura in rounds 5 and 6, Vargas’ face was cut in at least two spots and Miura started to assert himself again in rounds 7 and 8. Miura was beginning to grow in confidence while it appeared that Vargas was beginning to slow down, and Miura appeared to hurt Vargas at the end of the 8th round.

Vargas turned the tide again at the start of the ninth round, scoring a knock down with an uppercut and a straight right hand that took Miura’s legs and sent him to the canvas. Purely on instinct, Miura got back up and continued to fight, but Vargas was landing frequently and with force. Referee Tony Weeks stepped in to stop the fight at the halfway point of round 9 as Miura was sustaining a barrage of punches.

Miura still had a minute and a half to survive if he was going to get out of the round, and it was clear that he was not going to stop fighting.

A back and forth battle of wills between two world championship level fighters, Takashi Miura versus “El Bandido” Vargas wins the 2015 Fight of the Year.

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Jan 9 in Germany – Feigenbutz and De Carolis To Settle Score

Published

9 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

This coming Saturday, January 9th, the stage is set at the Baden Arena in Offenburg, Germany for a re-match between Vincent Feigenbutz and Giovanni De Carolis. The highly anticipated re-match is set to air on SAT.1 in Germany, and Feigenbutz will once again be defending his GBU and interim WBA World titles at Super Middleweight.

The first meeting between the two was less than three months ago, on October 17th and that meeting saw Feigenbutz controversially edge De Carolis on the judge’s cards by scores of (115-113, 114-113 and 115-113). De Carolis scored a flash knock down in the opening round, and he appeared to outbox Feigenbutz in the early going, but the 20 year old German champion came on in the later rounds.

The first bout is described as one of the most crowd-pleasing bouts of the year in Germany, and De Carolis and many observers felt that the Italian had done enough to win.

De Carolis told German language website RAN.DE that he was more prepared for the re-match, and that due to the arrogance Feigenbutz displayed in the aftermath of the first fight, he was confident that he had won over some of the audience. Though De Carolis fell short of predicting victory, he promised a re-vamped strategy tailored to what he has learned about Feigenbutz, whom he termed immature and inexperienced.

The stage is set for Feigenbutz vs De Carolis 2, this Saturday January 9th in Offenburg, Germany. If you can get to the live event do it, if not you have SAT.1 in Germany airing the fights, and The Boxing Channel right back here for full results.

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2015 Knock Out of the Year – Saul Alvarez KO’s James Kirkland

Published

9 years ago

December 29, 2015

The Sweet Science

On May 9th of 2015, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez delivered a resonant knock-out of James Kirkland on HBO that wins the 2015 KO of the Year.

The knock-out itself came in the third round, after slightly more than two minutes of action. The end came when Alvarez delivered a single, big right hand that caught Kirkland on the jaw and left him flat on his back after spinning to the canvas.Alvarez was clearly the big star heading into the fight. The fight was telecast by HBO for free just one week after the controversial and disappointing Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao fight, and Alvarez was under pressure to deliver the type of finish that people were going to talk about. Kirkland was happy to oblige Alvarez, taking it right to Alvarez from the start. Kirkland’s aggression saw him appear to land blows that troubled the young Mexican in the early going. Alvarez played good defense, and he floored Kirkland in the first round, displaying his power and his technique in knocking down an aggressive opponent.

However, Kirkland kept coming at Alvarez and the fight entered the third round with both men working hard and the feeling that the fight would not go the distance. Kirkland continued to move forward, keeping “Canelo” against the ropes and scoring points with a barrage of punches while looking for an opening.

At around the two minute mark, Alvarez landed an uppercut that sent Kirkland to the canvas again. Kirkland got up, but it was clear that he did not have his legs under him. Kirkland was going to try to survive the round, but Alvarez had an opportunity to close out the fight. The question was would he take it?

Alvarez closed in on Kirkland, putting his opponent’s back to the ropes. Kirkland was hurt, but he was still dangerous, pawing with punches and loading up for one big shot.

But it was the big shot “Canelo” threw that ended the night. Kirkland never saw it coming, as he was loading up with a huge right hand of his own. The right Alvarez threw cracked Kirkland in the jaw, and his eyes went blank. His big right hand whizzed harmlessly over the head of a ducking Alvarez, providing the momentum for the spin that left Kirkland prone on the canvas.

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez went on to defeat Miguel Cotto in his second fight of 2015 and he is clearly one of boxing’s biggest stars heading into 2016. On May 9th Alvarez added another reel to his highlight film when he knocked out James Kirkland with the 2015 “Knock Out of the Year”.

Photo by naoki fukuda

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