Over the weekend in front of close to 3000 fans at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, Cuban born former amateur sensation Yuriorkis Gamboa (20-0, 16KOs) stopped Jorge Solis (40-3-2, 29KOs) in four rounds, knocking the Mexican down five times in the process.
It was a performance equal parts impressive and expected from Gamboa, who some already regard as the best featherweight in the world, ahead even of his more experienced rivals for the top spot, namely long time champion Chris John (44-0-2, 22KOs) and fellow Top Rank fighter Juan Manuel Lopez (30-0, 27KOs).
For Solis, a perennial runner up having lost in all three of his world title bids, it was perhaps a last chance at glory, but against a talent like Gamboa’s there was little he could do except prolong the inevitable.
Immediately after the fight, the first story to emerge was the possibility of a unification bout between Gamboa and Juanma Lopez.
As interesting as the bout would be though, for Top Rank to be able to justify pitting two of their stars against each other a lot of money would have to be on the table, and for the time being that money isn’t there.
Gamboa, who has only fought professionally for four years since defecting from Cuba, isn’t a big ticket seller or television draw just yet. With his penchant for exciting performances and knockouts however, its likely only a matter of time before he is.
Lopez is a bigger draw but aside from wanting Gamboa also has designs on moving up in weight before the end of the year, meaning that the time frame for the fight to happen might be limited.
Despite Lopez’s appearance at the fight on Saturday then, it could still be several years before he and Gamboa meet in the ring, if it happens at all, and is largely dependent on how quickly hype surrounding the bout builds.
The second point of interest to emerge from Gamboa’s win over Solis was the fact that shortly after the fight, Solis was quoted as saying that Gamboa hits harder than current welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao, who bested Solis in 8 rounds back in 2007.
“Pacquaio throws a lot of punches, but he doesn’t hit as hard as Gamboa.” -Jorge Solis
This quickly lead to a glut of stories comparing Gamboa to the Filipino, some even speculating on whether the ultra talented Cuban might one way emulate Pacquiao’s achievements. For example:
Yuriorkis Gamboa hits harder than Manny Pacquiao to defend featherweight title
Pacquiao vs. Gamboa at 126
And unarguably, Gamboa dispatched Solis with less effort than Pacquiao needed.
For the time being though, as talented as Gamboa is, any comparison between him and Pacquiao is still a little premature.
To begin with using a singular common opponent as a comparison isn’t entirely valid in this case given the fact that the fights were both in different weight classes and four years apart.
Solis’ comment about Gamboa being the bigger puncher aren’t necessarily in question, but on the other hand most of Pacquiao’s opponents for the last several years have been bigger punchers as well as bigger physically and neither has had any impact on the end result.
Not to mention the fact that Gamboa and Pacquiao have different styles and it could be argued that the Filipino’s most effective weight is north of featherweight anyway.
Also while Gamboa has been impressive against the likes of Solis, he has yet to face a truly elite opponent able to fully exploit his lack of balance and still improving defense. Against journeymen this has meant knockdowns, against the very best this could mean losses.
Ferdinand Gonzalez, Pitt: “Gamboa is too small to move up much higher but he could beat anyone at feather and super feather”
Eddie Sanchez, Pitt: “Shame we won’t see Gamboa fight Donaire, that would be a great fight”
