By Leon de Juda: The pound for pound status, recently held by Floyd Mayweather Jr is up for grabs. This great glory is only given to the best of the best and to the most gifted fighter of the sport. This is a status not achieved by many and many great boxers simply never make it. Even though Mayweather Jr retired prematurely at a very young age thus leaving doubts about his future Hall of fame status, he was our last p4p Champion. Not mainly because the opposition that he faced but because of his gifted physical talent. It seems that he could do everything better than anyone in the ring. Of course, he was carefully guided as to whom he fought but that does’nt take away his accomplishments..
In recent times however, a certain Cuban defector is causing quite a stirr. At the moment, he is in everyone’s mouth that knows boxing, his name is Yuriorkis Gamboa. Gamboa’s physical talent and great amateur accomplishments have elevated his stock in the boxing world and just by looking at him you can see why. At 5’4, Gamboa goes by ” El Ciclon ” and surely he does’nt resemble a Cyclone but a category 5 Hurricane. His moves, power and speed is simply unmatched in the ring and adding to that his great amateur experience including an Olympic Gold medal for Cuba, this hurricane comes inadvertely and wipes out everything in his path.
Let’s take a moment now and analyze Mr.Gamboa’s record to the early record of Mayweather Jr. In his 14 pro fights, Gamboa has faced a way better opposition than Mayweather did or any other in many years. The fighter’s opposition tells a lot and Gamboa’s foes have a combined record of 283 wins with 44 loses. This is simply remarkable. Great names like Tyson, Cesar Chavez, De la Hoya and Mayweather simply fall very short of Gamboa’s opponents. Of course, this does’nt guarantee instant success but surely helps when evaluating Mr.Gamboa’s very bright future. Gamboa has gone down a couple of times but never has been hurt. This also has to do with him fighting class opponents and making his shift from amateur to pro all while learning at the same time.
Aside from his opponents, Gamboa’s exeptional talent, speed, reflexes, stamina and specially power has everyone talking. Many have critized him for going down but any fighter can go down at any given time specially when he is always moving at high speeds like Gamboa does. His knockdowns have been just light knockdowns with no real danger of loosing the fight but also had to do with his lowering of the hands. At times, he seems very cocky but it’s just inside the ring as outside the ring he is a very respectful gentleman when speaking. In his interviews, he still has’nt spoken bad of any opponent or even praised himself like everyone in boxing does. On the contrary, he only says, ” I have prepared well for this fight and I am ready to win a World Title “.
Mayweather’s first professional 14 fights looks like this,
1 fight – Roberto Apodaca- 0-0-0
2 fight – Reggie Sanders – 1-1-0
3 fight – Jerry Cooper – 6-3-0
4 fight – Edgar Ayala – 0-0-0
5 fight – Kino Rodriguez – 9-9-2
6 fight – Bobby Giepert – 19-8-0
7 fight – Tony Duran – 12-15-1
8 fight – Larry O’shields – 12-3-1
9 fight – Jesus Chavez – 1-13-1
10 fight- Louie Leija – 18-3-1
11 fight- Felipe Garcia – 20-18-1
12 fight- Angelo Nunez – 14-11-3
13 fight- Hector Arroyo – 16-4-2
14 fight- Sam Girard – 17-4-1
As we can see, Mayweather’s opponents have a combined record of 145 wins and 82 loses.
Gamboa’s first professional 14 fights looks like this,
1 fight – Alexan Manvelyan – 6-1-0
2 fight – Araik Sachbazjan – 7-0-0
3 fight – Joel Mayo – 40-11-0
4 fight – Thomas Hengstberger – 12-5-2
5 fight – Nestor Hugo Paniagua – 17-4-1
6 fight – Samuel Kebede – 25-1-0
7 fight – Adailton de Jesus – 19-2-0
8 fight – Gilberto Luque – 7-4-2
9 fight – Johnnie Edwards – 13-1-1
10 fight- Darling Jimenez – 23-2-2
11 fight- Al Seeger – 27-3-0
12 fight- Marcos Ramirez – 25-0-0
13 fight- Roger Gonzalez – 27-2-0
14 fight- Walter Estrada – 35-8-0
As we can see, Gamboa’s opponents have a combined record of 283 wins and 44 loses. Let’s not forget his Olympic Gold Medal and his highly accomplished amateur Cuban record that Mayweather Jr. did’nt had. Going head to head with Mayweather Jr, Gamboa’s potential is way better than him.
Only time will tell if Mr.Gamboa will be p4p material but we can get a solid idea of what ” El Ciclon ” is capable of achieving. There is absolutely no doubt, that Gamboa will be World Champion and will hold all three Championship belts at featherweight. The question is, can he maintain his focus, training and not be distracted like other Cuban defectors have in the past? Most likely the answer is Yes. If he has’nt lost his focus by now then it means he is serious enough. Gamboa is scheduled to fight again soon on 04/03/09 against an opponent to be announced thus keeping him super sharp and active in the ring. By the end of this year he should be World Champion. Mr.Gamboa, the pound for pound Throne awaits for you…