If you watch the History Channel, you know Omaha is not only a good sized city on the banks of the Missouri River, it is also the name of the famous beach where allied troops landed on D-Day in June of 1944. It was the beginning of the end for the Axis Powers. Crawford pulled off his own D-Day when he transitioned from orthodox to southpaw in the third round of his battle with the undefeated Cuban sensation named Yuriorkis Gamboa.
Terence Crawford
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Terence Crawford takes a big step towards superstardom with sizzling stoppage win over Yuriorkis Gamboa
WBO lightweight king Terence Crawford looked superb last night in handing former amateur superstar Yuriorkis Gamboa his first pro defeat. Too big, tall and rangy he may have been for former featherweight Gamboa, but nothing should be taken from Crawford’s win. Looking for all the world like a Thomas Hearns clone, Crawford displayed power, accuracy, speed and, most of the time – barring the occasion in the 9th-round when he was hurt before turning things back around in his favour – patience.
Gamboa, at a major disadvantage in terms of reach, had to, as commentator Larry Merchant said, “try and make things happen,” and in doing so, by coming in and trying to land dome hurt on his taller opponent, the Cuban talent put himself at serious risk. Crawford of course took advantage of this and buzzed his challenger a number of times. Only Gamboa’s ridiculous heart and courage kept him in the fight, and Gamboa even stated post-fight that, after the second hurtful knockdown of the 9th and final round, he’d wanted to continue.
Crawford beats Gamboa
Crawford stops Gamboa; Korobov decisions Uzcategui
WBO lightweight champion Terence Crawford (24-0, 17 KO’s) got off to a slow start in the first 4 rounds, but then came on to knock 32-year-old Yuriorkis Gamboa (23-1, 16 KO’s) down 4 times en route to stopping him in the 9th round tonight in a fight televised by HBO from the CenturyLink Center, in Omaha, Nebraska, USA.
Crawford was hurt in the 9th round after getting a little too overanxious trying to score a stoppage. But Crawford came back to knock Gamboa down twice with big punches to get the stoppage. Gamboa got back up after the second knockdown but the referee Genaro Rodriguez chose to stop the fight at 2:53 of the round.
Is Gamboa’s fight against Crawford a last-gasp opportunity for him?
Former IBF/WBA featherweight champion Yuriorkis Gamboa (23-0, 16 KO’s) will be making one of his rare appearances this Saturday night in challenging WBO lightweight champion Terence Crawford (23-0, 16 KO’s) on HBO at the CenturyLink Center, in Omaha, Nebraska, USA.
Like an aging celebrity entertainer, Gamboa’s appearances in the ring have become infrequent despite the fact that he’s not tasted the big money that many fighters of his talent level have. Gamboa hasn’t fought since last year when he struggled to defeat Darleys Perez by a less than impressive 12 round unanimous decision in June of 2013.
Crawford vs. Gamboa: The Guantánamo cyclone headed straight down tornado alley
Yuriorkis Gamboa lived up to his nickname “The Guantánamo Cyclone”, when he stormed on to the American boxing landscape via Espn2 Friday Night Fights. After a few highlight reel knockouts HBO came knocking and Gamboa kicked the door down with his blistering hand speed, mixed with heavy hands and vulnerability.
The fans began to call for a lower weight super fight of sorts with Puerto Rican Juanma Lopez, who at the time was making waves with his volume punching and a 1st round knockout over Ponce De Leon. If it wasn’t one punch power, it was rapid fire combinations breaking punch stat records and his opponents will in the process.
Crawford & Gamboa Interview Transcript
This exciting all-action doubleheader features four undefeated gladiators with a combined record of 91-0, 63 KOs.
Gamboa not worried about Crawford’s height advantage
The 5’5 ½” Yuriokis Gamboa (23-0, 16 KO’s) will be giving up nearly 3 inches in height and 5 inches in reach this Saturday night in his fight against 5’8” WBO lightweight champion Terence Crawford (23-0, 16 KO’s) at the CenturyLink Center, in Omaha, Nebraska, USA.
This fight is basically a featherweight vs. a light welterweight, because Gamboa’s best weight class was in the 126 pound division after he turned pro in 2008. Crawford has always been a big lightweight, and more of a light welterweight in size. In fact, Crawford said that he plans on moving up to the light welterweight division [140] after this fight.
Yuriorkis Gamboa: time to deliver
Go back a few years, to 2008 or 2009, and an unbeaten Cuban talent by the name of Yuriorkis Gamboa was on the lips of many a fight expert as a can’t-miss prospect of the hottest variety. The Olympic gold medallist and sensational all-round amateur standout who had defected from his homeland and set up base in Miami appeared to have it all: speed, power, balance, elegance and a killer instinct to match a peak Mike Tyson.
Back then, the only negative aimed at Gamboa was his somewhat leaky defence and his tendency to go down as a result. This only made the featherweight all the more exciting, however, and Gamboa always got back up and upon doing so took care of business. World titles and superstardom looked inevitable but – though the man dubbed “El Ciclon de Guantanamo” picked up a not so shabby three “world” titles at different weights (the WBA and IBF belts at feather, the interim WBA strap at super-feather-weight and interim WBA belt at lightweight) – somewhere along the way Gamboa all but fell off the radar.
TOMORROW! Crawford vs Gamboa Tix Go On Sale at 11 A.M. ET
“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.”