Gamboa Could Face Rojas, Not Salido, On 9/11

By Lem Satterfield

A scheduled July 24 featherweight (126 pounds) unification bout between Cuban-born, WBA champion Yuriorkis Gamboa and newly-crowned IBF king, Orlando Salido, has been tentatively postponed until Sept. 11 due to a cut sustained by Salido during training, Gamboa's manager, Tony Gonzalez, informed BoxingScene.com.

The bout between Gamboa, a Miami resident, and Salido, of Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, Mex., was slated for the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, said Gonzalez.

A 28-year-old, former Cuban Olympic gold medalist, Gamboa is 18-0, with 15 knockouts, and the 29-year-old Salido is 34-10-2, with 22 knockouts.

"I don't know where he was cut, I just know that it was a cut," said Gonzalez. "That's all that I know. I don't know where he was cut or anything."

Originally slated to be televised on HBO, Gamboa-Salido may not necessarily be the fight that actually takes place, however, according to Top Rank Promotions' matchmaker, Bruce Trampler.

Trampler said that other fighters who are considerations, in order, are Dominican Republican-born, former WBC featherweight king, Elio Rojas (22-1, 23 KOs), of Brooklyn, N.Y., and, WBA super bantamweight (122 pounds) king, Celestino Caballero (34-2, 23 KOs), of Panama City, Panama.

"I don't think that Salido is going to be the opponent, but they're working on a few guys. There's a guy named Elio Rojas that Don King promotes, and Salido is still in the mix," said Trampler.

"But Salido also has his own title that he can defend," said Trampler. "So then, there is Celestino Caballero. So I think that, in order of preference, it's Rojas, Salido, and then Caballero."

Gamboa is coming off of last month's lopsided, 12-round unanimous decision over previously unbeaten Jonathan Victor Barros (28-1-1, 16 KOs) in the third defense of his title. The victory over Barros ended Gamboa's run of seven consecutive knockouts.

Prior to that, Gamboa had scored a second-round knockout of Tanzanian-born Rogers Mtagwa (26-14-2 18 KOs), dropping him once in the first round and twice in the second before referee Steve Smoger waved an end to the fight at 2:35 at Madison Square Garden's WaMu Theater in New York.

Before facing Mtagwa, Gamboa had impressively disposed of Whyber Garcia (22-7, 15 KOs), starting Garcia's demise with a left-right combination that dropped the oncoming challenger face-first on the canvas early in the round.

The 27-year-old Rojas is coming off of his third straight victory with February's unanimous decision over Guty Espadas Jr. (45-8, 28 KOs).

Rojas has scored three consecutive decisions since losing, himself, by a split-decision to Gamaliel Diaz, in July of 2007.

Salido is coming off of last month's split-decision, featherweight rematch of world champions that dethroned then-IBF titlist, Cristobal Cruz, of Tijuana, Mex., in Salido's hometown of Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, Mex.

Salido won for the third straight time, while the 32-year-old Cruz slipped to 39-12-2, with 23 knockouts.

Salido's last loss had come against Cruz, who defeated him by split-decision in October of 2008 for the vacant IBF crown.

The win over Salido was part of a run of 5-0-1 by Cruz that ended with the loss in their return bout which also stopped his run of three straight title defenses.

Caballlero scored April's uanimous, 12-round decision over Daud Yordan (25-1, 19 KOs), of Indonesia, at the BankAmerica Center on HBO.

In victory, the 33-year-old Caballero was thought to have earned the WBA's interim featherweight title, but that assertion was later discovered to be in error.

Gamboa is promoted by Top Rank CEO Bob Arum, whose ultimate goal is to match Gamboa opposite 26-year-old, southpaw, WBO featherweight king, Juan Manuel Lopez (28-0, 25 KOs), of Puerto Rico, who, like Gamboa, is promoted by Top Rank.

Lopez is set to defend his belt against 22-year-old Bernabe Concepcion (28-3-1, 15 KOs), of Rizal, Philippines, on July 10 in Puerto Rico.

Lem Satterfield is the news editor for BoxingScene.com and the boxing editor for AOL FanHouse. To read more from Lem Satterfield, go to AOL FanHouse by Clicking Here.