Finally, A Live Fight Card

By Jake Donovan (Photo © Chris Cozzone/FightWireImages.com)

Give a starving man a cracker, and he’ll think it’s a feast.

With that in mind, expect a lot of boxing fans to lick their fingers clean after dining on the 2009 season premiere of ESPN2 Friday Night Fights this weekend.

It’s not often that boxing action on The Deuce comes with major anticipation, but exceptions are made when fight fans have been deprived of live televised action for at least three weeks. If you opted to pass on the Nikolai Valuev-Evander Holyfield pay-per-view, then it’s been even longer than that.

The last time ESPN2 contributed to our boxing intake was four months ago, when undefeated junior middleweight James Kirkland headlined their season finale. Their 2009 debut features two more undefeated stars of tomorrow, with 2004 Cuban Olympic teammates and gold medal winners Yuriorkis Gamboa and Odlanier Solis heading up the broadcast. Gamboa faces Roger Gonzalez in a12-round featherweight bout, while Solis meets Kevin Burnett in a 10-round heavyweight co-feature.

Both bouts air live from Buffalo Bill’s Star Arena in Primm, Nevada (Friday, 9PM ET/6PM local time).

There are few hotter prospects in the sport than Gamboa, the undefeated featherweight who has managed to make a huge splash on the sport in less than two years as a pro. 2008 was a breakout year for the Cuban defector, appearing two times each on ESPN2 and HBO.

Gamboa’s appearances on Friday Night Fights lasted a combined total of just over four minutes, with Johnnie Edwards and Al Seeger both being shown the exit inside of a round. His 94-second destruction of Edwards marked his first time on American airwaves, which came four months after his long awaited stateside debut.

Though he enjoys a rapid rise toward title contention, last year’s campaign didn’t come without its share of chinks in the armor. His HBO debut, a 10-round decision win over Darling Jimenez last May, saw the Cuban hitting the deck in the fourth round, the second time in his career he’s been knocked down. That the fight saw the final bell meant an end to the nine-fight knockout streak he carried into the evening.

Two quick knockouts have since followed, including a first round blitzing of Al Seeger in July. His most recent appearance came last October, stopping Marcos Ramirez in the second round of an HBO-televised matchup of unbeaten featherweights. Ramirez obviously no longer qualifies as undefeated, but didn’t go out without a fight, sending Gamboa to the canvas in the opening frame before being sent home one round later.

The post-fight assessment was mixed with praise and criticism. While still recognized as perhaps the one to watch in 2009, several believe his lack of in-ring discipline will eventually catch up to him. HBO color commentator Max Kellerman likened the Cuban to another unorthodox hard-hitting featherweight by the name of Naseem Hamed.

Gamboa offered his own scouting report at night’s end.

“Everyone has their opinions, but I feel that if I’m put down I have to come back and attack,” said Gamboa moments after the fight, right before explaining the difference between his visits to the canvas and when his opponents hit the deck. “When I hit and they drop, they can’t continue.”

For the moment, he speaks the truth, with the results hardly coming against cookie cutter competition. Gamboa’s pro debut came in April 2007 against Alexan Manveylan, who boasted a 6-1 record at the time. It remains the least amount of wins among any of Gamboa’s victims to date, with his 13 career fights (including this weekend’s against Roger Gonzalez) having come against opposition with a combined record of 245-36-8.

Gonzalez enters Friday’s fight with a mark of 27-2 (18KO), but coming off of an upset knockout loss against resurging Cornelius Lock in one of many ESPN2-televised upsets last year. That the Californian represents just another opponent tells all you need to know about the stellar level of competition Gamboa’s already faced at a stage of his career.

The same can be said of former Olympic teammate, unbeaten heavyweight prospect Odlanier Solis.

The two were inseparable throughout their amateur careers as well as the early stages of their pro careers before Gamboa made his way to the states in October 2007.

Solis remained in Germany, where most of his career had taken place, and where he, Gamboa and Yan Barthelemy landed after defecting from the Cuban amateur squad at the end of 2006.

As Gamboa is criticized for his lack of discipline in the ring, Solis has caught major flak for his out-of-the-ring conditioning. The former amateur standout can box like a dream, but stands a much better chance of capturing a heavyweight title than he does in ever winning a body building contest. The lightest the 6’1½” Cuban has weighed for a pro fight was 246¾ lb, when he was extended the eight-round distance by Cisse Salif last March, while having weighed as much as 258.

Of course, the same criticism was heard in his amateur days, when he opted to move up from heavyweight to super heavyweight. Speed was sacrificed, but not much else: Solis ended his career in the non-pay ranks with a 227-14 ledger, including a Gold medal in the 2004 Olympics. 

It’s been a perfect dozen through his first 21 months as a pro. His competition is arguably on par with Gamboa. More recognizable names grace Solis’ resume, boasting a combined record of 245-73-12 (excluding Burnett). Opponents such as Marcus McGee, Jeremy Bates, Julius Long and Cisse Salif are no great shakes on their own, but can all be found on the records of more than a few notable contenders and former world champions.

Gone is the blazing speed that came with his days as a 201 lb. amateur, but Solis still possesses plenty of tricks as a pro. He’s patient, stalking, employs a committed body attack and always finds a way to set up one of the better overhand rights in the sport. With skills like that and the results to match, he can come in the ring in whatever shape he prefers.

Like Gamboa, Solis’ opponent this weekend possesses a glossy enough record but doesn’t rate particularly high among what he’s already faced in what should be the infant stages of his career. At 6’7” and claiming a record of 13-1-1, Burnett boasts all of the right statistics to make his way to a broadcast, though there’s not a lot of substance beyond that.

He did well for himself in his lone televised appearance last June, an eight-round decision over Horace Grant, but was nearly a knockout victim after getting lit up in the closing seconds of the fight. Burnett recovered just enough to hear the final bell. One more round and we’d possibly be discussing a Solis-Grant match this weekend.

Instead, it’s Burnett who becomes the answer to the trivia question of the man standing in the other corner for Solis’ stateside and televised debut.

At their current rate, there stands a strong chance that we’re talking about Gamboa and Solis as top title challengers by this time next year. Given their already strong resumes, wins this Friday will be only that – just another win.

For boxing fans, no matter what happens this weekend, it will still have been the best damn meal we’ve had in weeks.

MAYBE THEY MEANT TOP 10 DARKER-THAN-WHITE AMERICANS?

When are residents of Haiti considered African-Americans? When the self-proclaimed Bible of Boxing says so.

It’s the season of awards and lists, since there’s been nothing else going on for the past few weeks. In The Ring’s best efforts in compiling a list of the top current African-Americans in the sport, Andre Berto made his way to their number eight spot.

Ignored in the process is that both of his parents are of Haitian descent and that the undefeated welterweight currently possesses dual citizenship in Haiti and the United States. You’d think the fact that he served on their 2004 Olympic boxing squad would’ve been a big enough hint, but apparently some people need things spelled out.

It only goes to show how so few people truly understand the concept of the term. Ironically enough, its alternate intention is to minimize racism, yet has the exact reverse effect when a person of dark(er) skin is labeled African-American by default.

Today’s use is far more commonly found in the politically correct variety, for fear that simply labeling someone “Black” will be considered offensive. The true concept of the term is reflective of those whose roots descend from Africa, but the exactly location unknown due to an entire race of people having their history eradicated when first brought to the alleged land of the free.

You’d think this would be common knowledge for a publication whose Editor-in-Chief Nigel Collins thinks so highly of his product that he considers his Internet rivals to boast “more junk than journalism.”

Those who live in glass houses… and all that good stuff.

Jake Donovan is a voting member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Comments/questions can be submitted to JakeNDaBox@gmail.com .