Keith Idec
Terence Crawford is noticeably bigger than Yuriorkis Gamboa, about three inches taller than the challenger for his WBO lightweight title Saturday night.
Neither fighter figures Crawford’s significant size advantage will make much difference, though, as they approach their HBO “Boxing After Dark” main event at CenturyLink Center in Crawford’s hometown of Omaha, Neb.
“I’ve been pretty much the smaller guy in most of my fights,” the 5-foot-5 Gamboa (23-0, 16 KOs) said through a translator Wednesday on a conference call. “I don’t think it’s something that’s going to affect much. I know how to adjust. I know how to come with a game plan and it’s something I’ve been dealing with since my amateur career. I’ve always been the smaller guy.”
The 5-8 Crawford (23-0, 16 KOs), who’ll make the first defense of a 135-pound championship he won by unanimous decision from Scotland’s Ricky Burns (36-3-1, 11 KOs) on March 1 in Glasgow, seemingly agreed with the 2004 Olympic gold medalist from Cuba.
“You never know [if height will make a difference],” Crawford said. “Gamboa is a real skillful fighter. He probably can make adjustments like me in the ring. We’ll just have to wait to find out, to see in the ring what happens.”
HBO’s broadcast will begin at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT with a 10-round WBO middleweight title elimination match between Russia’s Matt Korobov (23-0, 14 KOs) and Venezuela’s Jose Uzcategui (22-0, 18 KOs).
Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
