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While researching the latest on the Gamboa-Rios fight, I ran into this article by Joseph Herron:
In recent events, Cuban exile Yuriorkis Gamboa has been somewhat of an enigma. Not just to boxing fans and fight scribes, but to those who have a hand in assisting his career path as well.
Hall of Fame trainer Emanuel Steward, who was publicly announced as Yuriorkis Gamboa's head trainer in October of 2011, claims he has no idea what the future holds for the Cuban born fighter.
"I have no idea about anything that Gamboa is doing or plans to do," stated Manny Steward. "I received a call on Monday from Top Rank VP Carl Moretti asking me if knew where Gamboa was. He said that they had scheduled a press conference in Miami, FL, to promote the scheduled Gamboa/Rios fight and Yuriorkis was a 'no show'."
"I told him that I had no idea and that I had just arrived back in the United States from working Wladimir Klitschko's corner in Germany. So I called Gamboa's co-promoter Ahmet Oner, who was in Turkey at the time, and asked him what was going on. Oner informed me that he was having legal and personal issues with Gamboa and that was about it."
Gamboa was absent from press conferences in Los Angeles, CA, and Miami, FL, to promote the upcoming Top Rank event scheduled for April 14th.
To further complicated matters, rumors have been circulating throughout the Las Vegas media that Gamboa has signed a co-promotional agreement with Floyd Mayweather Jr's promotional group, Mayweather Promotions LLC.
Also, several rumors regarding Gamboa requesting Roger Mayweather to become his head trainer have been swirling throughout web-based media sources as well.
The Kronk Gym leader claims he has no idea whether or not he is still training the talented Cuban fighter.
"I didn't have any settled agreement that I would be training Gamboa for a fight with Brandon Rios anyway. We discussed it, but that was it. In fact, I informed HBO last week that I had no definite plans to work with Gamboa for this fight when they had asked me whether or not I would be available for the broadcast."
"I told them that I would be available for the broadcast as far as I knew because HBO was the only party with which I had an agreement. I've never had a very close relationship with Gamboa and I have no idea where he will go from here."
When asked if the April 14th Top Rank event was in jeopardy, Steward was very frank.
"It's now less than 40 days until the fight. That doesn't leave very much time to prepare for a very tough opponent like Brandon Rios, so I would say that more than likely the fight won't happen."
If the rumors are indeed true regarding the possibility of Gamboa signing an accord with Mayweather Promotions, LLC, a future working relationship between Floyd Jr. and Bob Arum seems highly unlikely.
In recent events, Cuban exile Yuriorkis Gamboa has been somewhat of an enigma. Not just to boxing fans and fight scribes, but to those who have a hand in assisting his career path as well.
Hall of Fame trainer Emanuel Steward, who was publicly announced as Yuriorkis Gamboa's head trainer in October of 2011, claims he has no idea what the future holds for the Cuban born fighter.
"I have no idea about anything that Gamboa is doing or plans to do," stated Manny Steward. "I received a call on Monday from Top Rank VP Carl Moretti asking me if knew where Gamboa was. He said that they had scheduled a press conference in Miami, FL, to promote the scheduled Gamboa/Rios fight and Yuriorkis was a 'no show'."
"I told him that I had no idea and that I had just arrived back in the United States from working Wladimir Klitschko's corner in Germany. So I called Gamboa's co-promoter Ahmet Oner, who was in Turkey at the time, and asked him what was going on. Oner informed me that he was having legal and personal issues with Gamboa and that was about it."
Gamboa was absent from press conferences in Los Angeles, CA, and Miami, FL, to promote the upcoming Top Rank event scheduled for April 14th.
To further complicated matters, rumors have been circulating throughout the Las Vegas media that Gamboa has signed a co-promotional agreement with Floyd Mayweather Jr's promotional group, Mayweather Promotions LLC.
Also, several rumors regarding Gamboa requesting Roger Mayweather to become his head trainer have been swirling throughout web-based media sources as well.
The Kronk Gym leader claims he has no idea whether or not he is still training the talented Cuban fighter.
"I didn't have any settled agreement that I would be training Gamboa for a fight with Brandon Rios anyway. We discussed it, but that was it. In fact, I informed HBO last week that I had no definite plans to work with Gamboa for this fight when they had asked me whether or not I would be available for the broadcast."
"I told them that I would be available for the broadcast as far as I knew because HBO was the only party with which I had an agreement. I've never had a very close relationship with Gamboa and I have no idea where he will go from here."
When asked if the April 14th Top Rank event was in jeopardy, Steward was very frank.
"It's now less than 40 days until the fight. That doesn't leave very much time to prepare for a very tough opponent like Brandon Rios, so I would say that more than likely the fight won't happen."
If the rumors are indeed true regarding the possibility of Gamboa signing an accord with Mayweather Promotions, LLC, a future working relationship between Floyd Jr. and Bob Arum seems highly unlikely.
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