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Is Yuriorkis Gamboa a Cyclone About to Peter Out?

Three years after the conclusion of an incredible amateur career, which included a gold medal from the Athens 2004 Olympics, the Cuban Yuriorkis Gamboa entered the sport of professional boxing with the ferocity of a hurricane. His punching power and fighting style allowed him to conquer the 126 lb. title in only 2 years.
But as time went on, the “Ciclón de Guantánamo” (“The Guantanamo Cyclone”) lost his compass inside and outside of the ring. Now approaching the age of 37, there is an uncertainty around his career – perhaps he is close to retirement – even though he remains optimistic regarding his upcoming fight against the Mexican Miguel Beltrán Jr. (33-6-0, 22 KOs) on the 10th of November at the Miami-Dade County Fair & Expo in Miami.
Facing a rival seven years younger, and with an unclear future in the sport, Gamboa must do more than simply emerge victorious in his next fight. His future is hanging on by a thread and this could be his last battle inside the sport of prizefighting.
His career began with a spectacular knockout in the 3rd round against Alexander Manvelyan on April 27th of 2007, in Hamburg, Germany. This victory occurred after leaving his homeland for 6 months to train in Brazil and prepare for the Pan American games in Río de Janeiro.
Gamboa in Miami
“He’s regaining his explosiveness and I think he’s headed down the right path in order to once again achieve stardom,” said trainer Pedro “Peter” Roque to a group of reporters at Tropical Park Gym, in Miami. Roque continued, “He had an excellent preparation and is in superb conditions physically, technically and in health”.
The Cuban born Gamboa added two victories to his record last year, both by majority decision. The most recent being against the American Jason “El Canito” Sosa, November 25th of 2017 at the Madison Square Garden Theatre in New York.
There in the Big Apple, and on other occasions over the course of 11 years in the sport of boxing, Gamboa once tasted the canvas in the 7th round and once had a point deducted in the 10th for repeatedly clinching his opponent. Three months before, Gamboa had won again by majority decision against the young Mexican Alexis “Baby” Reyes, at the Grand Oasis Arena in Cancun, Mexico. This time he had three points deducted due to technical fouls in the 5th, 8th, and 9th rounds.
“We’ve worked on a lot of technical aspects, mainly keeping his left hand up while he’s on the offensive,” affirmed Carlos Gamboa, the father of Yuriorkis. “On many occasions, he goes towards his opponent and isn’t defending himself with that hand”.
The bout between the former multiple world champion Gamboa and the Aztec Beltran Jr. will take place on the fair grounds of the Tamiami Park and not inside the Marlins Park Stadium, as was previously announced. Sources close to the event’s organizers say that the baseball installments demanded a costly insurance that was “impossible to pay”.
This will be Gamboa’s big opportunity to compete in front of the enormous Cuban community within Miami. This is the closest he’s been to fighting in front of his exiled compatriots since October of 2007, when he defeated the Brazilian Adailton “Precipicio” De Jesus at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, which neighbors Miami-Dade.
Beltran Jr., in his most recent fight, this past September 14th in Culiacan, Mexico, won by knockout in the first round against his co-national Misael “El Toro” Muñoz. Referee Leonardo Bermúdez called a stop to the contest with only 2 seconds left. However, not much can be said of Beltran Jr.’s victory, considering Muñoz has an abysmal professional record of 14 losses, all by knockout, and has never tasted the sweetness of victory.
Gamboa’s executioners: Crawford and Castellanos
Gamboa conquered the WBA World Featherweight title with a spectacular knockout in the 4th round against the Panamanian Wyler Garcia on October 10th of 2009 at Madison Square Garden. The following year, on September 11th, the Cuban acquired the vacant IBF World Featherweight title when he unanimously defeated the Mexican Orlando “Siri” Salido at the Palms Casino and Resort in Las Vegas. Gamboa fell to the canvas in the 8th round, but Salido tasted the same medicine on more than one occasion in the 12th.
Four years later, Gamboa made the mistake of taking on one of the world’s pound for pound best, the American Terence “Bud” Crawford in his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska at the Century Link. Gamboa had only fought once in the 135 lb. division before crossing paths with Crawford, a born puncher who constantly changes his stance and creates tactical uncertainty amongst his opponents. As an appetizer to the unforgettable match against Crawford, The “Guantanamo Cyclone” unanimously defeated the Colombian Darleys Pérez, June 8th of 2013 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada, where Gamboa raised the Interim WBA World Lightweight title.
Motivated by his success thus far of 23 victories (17 by way of knockout and 6 by unanimous decision), Gamboa went up against Crawford, who gave him a beat down, including knockdowns in the 5th, 8th and a few more times in the 9th. This resulted in referee Genaro Rodríguez bringing an end to the massacre at 2:53 of said round. With this victory, the North American retained his WBO World Lightweight title.
Six months later, Gamboa returned victorious, winning by TKO in the 6th round against Joel Montes de Oca. His streak continued, defeating Hylon Williams Jr. and René Alvarado, both by unanimous decision over the course of 10 rounds. But in his next contest, Gamboa arrived in poor physical condition and was mauled by the Mexican Robinson “Robin Hood” Castellanos at the luxurious MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
Considering the records of both fighters, Gamboa was a big favorite to defeat Castellanos, who was 23-12 at the time. However, the Cuban came into the fight lacking speed and adequate preparation. In the 3rd round, a straight right hand knocked down Gamboa. The following rounds consisted of more of the same, and with little or nothing left to offer, and without any possibility of changing the course of the fight, Gamboa’s corner conceded defeat before resuming the 7th round.
Gamboa and his two trainers, Pedro Roque and Carlos Gamboa, are optimistic regarding the upcoming fight against Beltrán, Jr. This will be a great opportunity to see if the Cuban’s winds are still in full force or if this cyclone is about to peter out. We will see.
Translated by E.G. for J.J. Alvarez of Boxeo.tv
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Mercito Gesta Victorious Over Jojo Diaz at the Long Beach Pyramid

LONG BEACH, CA.-Those in the know knew Mercito Gesta and Jojo Diaz would be a fight to watch and they delivered.
Gesta emerged the winner in a super lightweight clash between southpaws that saw the judges favor his busier style over Diaz’s body attack and bigger shots and win by split decision on Saturday.
Despite losing the main event because the star was overweight, Gesta (34-3-3, 17 KOs) used an outside method of tactic to edge past former world champion Diaz (32-4-1, 15 KOs) in front of more than 5,000 fans at the Pyramid.
The speedy Gesta opened up the fight with combination punching up and down against the peek-a-boo style of Diaz. For the first two rounds the San Diego fighter overwhelmed Diaz though none of the blows were impactful.
In the third round Diaz finally began unloading his own combinations and displaying the fast hands that helped him win world titles in two divisions. Gesta seemed stunned by the blows, but his chin held up. The counter right hook was Diaz’s best weapon and snapped Gesta’s head back several times.
Gesta regained control in the fifth round after absorbing big blows from Diaz. He seemed to get angry that he was hurt and opened up with even more blows to send Diaz backpedaling.
Diaz targeted his attack to Gesta’s body and that seemed to slow down Gesta. But only for a round.
From the seventh until the 10th each fighter tried to impose their style with Gesta opening up with fast flurries and Diaz using right hooks to connect with solid shots. They continued their method of attack until the final bell. All that mattered was what the judges preferred.
After 10 rounds one judge saw Diaz the winner 97-93 but two others saw Gesta the winner 99-91, 98-92. It was a close and interesting fight.
“I was expecting nothing. I was the victor in this fight and we gave a good fight,” said Gesta. “It’s not an easy fight and Jojo gave his best.”
Diaz was surprised by the outcome but accepted the verdict.
Everything was going good. I thought I was landing good body shots,” said Diaz. “I was pretty comfortable.”
Other Bouts
Mexico’s Oscar Duarte (25-1-1, 20 KOs) knocked out Chicago’s Alex Martin (18-5, 6 KOs) with a counter right hand after dropping him earlier in the fourth round. The super lightweight fight was stopped at 1:14 of the round.
A battle between undefeated super welterweights saw Florida’s Eric Tudor (8-0, 6 KOs) emerge the winner by unanimous decision after eight rounds versus Oakland’s Damoni Cato-Cain.
The taller Tudor showed polished skill and was not bothered by a large cut on his forehead caused by an accidental clash of heads. He used his jab and lead rights to defuse the attacks of the quick-fisted southpaw Cato-Cain. The judges scored the fight 80-72 and 78-74 twice for Tudor.
San Diego’s Jorge Chavez (5-0, 4 KOs) needed less than one round to figure out Nicaragua’s Bryan Perez (12-17-1, 11 KOs) and send him into dreamland with a three-punch combination. No need to count as referee Ray Corona waved the fight over. Perez shot a vicious right followed by another right and then a see-you-later left hook at 3.00 of the first round of the super featherweight match.
Photo credit: Al Applerose
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Jojo Diaz’s Slump Continues; Mercito Gesta Prevails on a Split Decision

At age 30, Jojo Diaz’s career is on the skids. The 2012 U.S. Olympian, a former world title holder at 126 and 130 pounds and an interim title holder at 135, Diaz suffered his third straight loss tonight, upset by Mercito Gesta who won a split decision at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, CA.. The scoring was strange with Gesta winning nine of the 10 rounds on one of the cards and only three rounds on another. The tie-breaker, as it were, was a 98-92 tally for Gesta and even that didn’t capture the flavor of what was a closely-contested fight.
Originally listed as a 12-rounder, the match was reduced to 10 and that, it turned out, did Diaz no favors. However, it’s hard to feel sorry for the former Olympian as he came in overweight once again, having lost his 130-pound title on the scales in February of 2021.
Diaz also has issues outside the ropes. Best elucidated by prominent boxing writer Jake Donovan, they include a cluster of legal problems stemming from an arrest for drunk driving on Feb. 27 in the LA suburb of Claremont.
With the defeat, Diaz’s ledger declined to 32-4-1. His prior losses came at the hands of Gary Russell Jr, Devin Haney, and William Zepeda, boxers who are collectively 83-2. Mercito Gesta, a 35-year-old San Diego-based Filipino, improved to 34-3-3.
Co-Feature
Chihuahua, Mexico super lightweight Oscar Duarte has now won nine straight inside the distance after stopping 33-year-old Chicago southpaw Alex Martin in the eighth frame. Duarte, the busier fighter, had Martin on the deck twice in round eight before the fight was waived off.
Duarte improved to 25-1-1 (20). Martin, who reportedly won six national titles as an amateur and was once looked upon as a promising prospect, declined to 18-5.
Other Bouts of Note
New Golden Boy signee Eric Tudor, a 21-year-old super welterweight from Fort Lauderdale, overcame a bad laceration over his right eye, the result of an accidental clash of heads in round four, to stay unbeaten, advancing to 8-0 (6) with a hard-fought unanimous 8-round decision over Oakland’s Damoni Cato-Cain. The judges had it 80-72 and 78-74 twice. It was the first pro loss for Cato-Cain (7-1-1) who had his first five fights in Tijuana.
In the DAZN opener, lanky Hawaian lightweight Dalis Kaleiopu went the distance for the first time in his young career, improving to 4-0 (3) with a unanimous decision over 36-year-old Colombian trial horse Jonathan Perez (40-35). The scores were 60-52 across the board. There were no knockdowns, but Perez, who gave up almost six inches in height, had a point deducted for a rabbit punch and another point for deducted for holding.
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‘Big Baby’ Wins the Battle of Behemoths; TKOs ‘Big Daddy’ in 6

Lucas “Big Daddy” Browne weighed in at a career-high 277 pounds for today’s battle in Dubai with Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller, but he was the lighter man by 56 pounds. It figured that one or both would gas out if the bout lasted more than a few stanzas.
It was a war of attrition with both men looking exhausted at times, and when the end came it was Miller, at age 34 the younger man by nine years, who had his hand raised.
Browne was the busier man, but Miller, whose physique invites comparison with a rhinoceros, hardly blinked as he was tattooed with an assortment of punches. He hurt ‘Bid Daddy’ in round four, but the Aussie held his own in the next frame, perhaps even forging ahead on the cards, but only postponing the inevitable.
In round six, a succession of right hands knocked Browne on the seat of his pants. He beat the count, but another barrage from Miller impelled the referee to intervene. The official time was 2:33. It was the 21st straight win for Miller (26-0-1, 22 KOs). Browne declined to 31-4 and, for his own sake, ought not fight again. All four of his losses have come inside the distance, some brutally.
The consensus of those that caught the livestream was that Floyd Mayweather Jr’s commentary was an annoying distraction that marred what was otherwise an entertaining show.
As for what’s next for “Big Baby” Miller, that’s hard to decipher as he has burned his bridges with the sport’s most powerful promoters. One possibility is Mahmoud Charr who, like Miller, has a big gap in his boxing timeline. Now 38 years old, Charr – who has a tenuous claim on a WBA world title (don’t we all?) — has reportedly taken up residence in Dubai.
Other Bouts of Note
In a 10-round cruiserweight affair, Suslan Asbarov, a 30-year-old Russian, advanced to 4-0 (1) with a hard-fought majority decision over Brandon Glanton. The judges had it 98-92, 97-93, and a more reasonable 95-95.
Asbarov was 12-9 in documented amateur fights and 1-0 in a sanctioned bare-knuckle fight, all in Moscow, entering this match. He bears watching, however, as Glanton (18-2) would be a tough out for almost anyone in his weight class. In his previous fight, at Plant City, Florida, Glanton lost a controversial decision to David Light, an undefeated Australian who challenges WBO world title-holder Lawrence Okolie at Manchester, England next week.
A 10-round super featherweight match between former world title challengers Jono Carroll and Miguel Marriaga preceded the semi-windup. Carroll, a 30-year-old Dublin southpaw, overcame a cut over his left eye suffered in the second round to win a wide unanimous decision in a fairly entertaining fight.
It was the sixth straight win for Carroll (24-2-1, 7 KOs) who elevated his game after serving as a sparring partner for Devin Haney. Marriaga, a 36-year-old Colombian, lost for the fourth time in his last five outings, declining to 30-7.
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