By Elisinio Castillo
Trainer Pedro Roque believes that former world champion Yuriorkis Gamboa (28-2, 17 KOs) can still be major force in boxing.
Gamboa has won two in a row, both majority decisions, since suffering an upset TKO defeat at the hands of Robinson Castellanos in May of 2017.
Gamboa is back on November 10 in Miami, Florida - when he faces tough Mexican boxer Miguel Beltran Jr.
Roque knows Gamboa since both were part of the amateur system Cuba. Gamboa has a great amateur career that saw him eventually win a gold medal in the Olympics.
If Gamboa defeats Beltran, he is expected to face fellow former world champion Juan Manuel Lopez, who returns to action in the co-feature of the November 10 card.
"We have met all the parameters that we had set. Everything has gone at one hundred percent. Gamboa is in an optimal state. His explosiveness continues to grow and I think that on November 10th he will bring a great show to Miami and the world," the trainer told George Ebro.
"The camp [for the Jason Sosa fight] has been totally different. We did four weeks in Las Vegas and we have been in Miami for eight weeks. In the past Gamboa could barely get spars with good boxers. Here he does them with boxers of a very high level like the Puerto Rican Jayson Velez. His level is higher than it was for the fight with Sosa.
"He is very happy, very happy. He trains very happy and feels the same desire to become a world champion. He is excited to know that he is going to fight in Miami in front of many Cubans. Yes [he can still be a world champion], there is a lot to talk about Gamboa, things to do with Gamboa. He is a boxer who continues to matter in boxing. Now we have a team around him to ensure he arrives in optimal conditions. After this victory, great things will come.''
