ATLANTIC CITY — Late Saturday night, long after Yuri Gamboa had demolished Daniel Ponce de Leon in eight lopsided rounds, I asked Top Rank promoter Todd duBoef: What does Gamboa have to do to elevate himself into the rarefied air of Manny Pacquiao?
“Creating another Manny Pacquiao isn’t easy,” duBoef said. “I wish it was. There just aren’t many guys like him.”
That’s true, of course. Pacquiao is a once-or-twice-in-a-generation fighter. But make a short list of candidates who could fill the void whenever Pacquiao decides to walk away from boxing and Gamboa has to be on it. Consider: Gamboa has blinding speed and superior power. He speaks supremely confidently — albeit only in Spanish — and has a Tony Montana type of swagger in the ring. I compared him favorably to Pacquiao. DuBoef mentioned Roy Jones.
“If you look at old Roy Jones and you look at Gamboa, they are very similar,” duBoef said. “They don’t use jabs. They use lead left hooks. They do everything very unconventional but they are so gifted as athletes. They are almost spitting images [of each other].”
There is one thing that Pacquiao and, to a lesser extent, Jones had: a natural ability to finish someone off. By his own admission, Pacquiao takes a lot of chances. He’s willing to eat a few punches if it means he can get inside and make it a brawl. Gamboa has the power to put down anyone at 126 pounds — just ask Rogers Mtagwa or Jorge Solis — but doesn’t always look for opportunities. He connected on several crisp combinations against Ponce de Leon but never really looked to finish him off.
