Gamboa vs Rios: Whose had the tougher opponents?

Poll included, lets break it down. With the big fight looming just 44 days away, I want to know in your opinion who has fought the tougher opposition. I will post the 5 most notable wins of each fighter including their record they had at the time that they fought (Not their current record) and compare them, and I want you to give me your thoughts about the comparisons. Yuriorkis Gamboa 21(16) L0 D0 1. Daniel Ponce De Leon W41 L3 D0 2. Orlando Salido W34 L10 D2 3. Jonathan Victor Barros W28 L0 D1 4. Jorge Solis W40 L2 D2 5. Rogers Mtagwa W26 L13 D2 Brandon Rios 29(22) L0 D1 1. Miguel Acosta W28 L3 D2 2. Anthony Peterson W30 L0 D0 3. Urbano Antillon W28 L2 D0 4. John Murray W31 L1 D0 5. Jorge Luis Teron W23 L1 D1 Okay So lets get started. 1: Ponce De Leon vs Miguel Acosta, IMHO I feel that Rios clearly had the tougher opponent here. Ponce De Leon has devastating KO power for his weight and is very awkward (which could be a good thing but also a bad thing) but isn't very skilled. His abilities are adequate but fall short in comparison to Acosta, who has both great speed and power, and the skills to boot. In fact, if I recall correctly most people were giving the edge to Acosta to beat Rios, saying that he would "expose" Rios, but obviously in the end it didn't turn out that way. Edge: Rios 2: Orlando Salido vs Anthony Peterson, Again to be honest, I have to give the edge to Rios. Orlando Salido is a grizzled veteran who can give anybody a tough test, but doesn't have the same skillset that some one such as Anthony Peterson has. AP, younger brother of Lamont Peterson was going into this fight undefeated with a 62% KO average. So in essence, Peterson is another good SKILLED opponent who also has adequate power. This was a HUGE risk fight for Rios and he dominated the fight and ultimately won by DQ as Peterson kept hitting low. Edge Rios 3: Jonathan Victor Barros vs Urbano Antillon, this is more difficult for me to call because I don't know much about JVB, only that he was an undefeated Argentine fighter at the time of this fight. Urbano on the other hand, I have seen him fight plenty and know that although he is a very tough fighter, a typical come forward and demolish type of Mexican fighter, he doesn't posses a high skill level. I was going to call this even, but for the sake of keeping this thing interesting I'll go ahead and just give the edge to Gamboa for this one but I really don't know, YOU be the judge. Edge Gamboa 4. John Murray vs Jorge Solis, here we have two solid opponents who can test ANY young rising star. John Murray is sort of the British version of Rios, who comes forward nonstop and punches with bad intentions. Jorge Solis is a veteran slugger who packs a decent punch and always keeps you busy. In this case I'm going to analyze the result of the fights: It took Eleven rounds for Rios to stop Murray, and it took only 4 rounds for Gamboa to Knock out Solis. Now let's look at the momentum these opponents had going into their respective fights. Murray was just coming off of an 8 round TKO loss going into a fight with Rios, while Solis was coming off of a 3 fight winning streak going into his fight with Gamboa... not too bad I guess. Easily imo Gamboa fought the better opponent in this case. Edge Gamboa 5. Rogers Mtagwa vs Jorge Luis Teron, these are the weakest opponents out of the 5 notable fights, and I think this can easily be seen as just even. Rogers Mtagwa is a tough African fighter (get used to seeing those) from Tanzania who always comes to fight. He gave Juan Manuel Lopez a tough fight and very telling fight (not so good for Juanma...), and has generally been in a series of good fights (most notably his fight with Tomas Villa on the Solo Boxeo series) but doesn't have what it takes on the bigger stage. Jorge Luis Teron on the other hand was supposed to be a promising young Puerto Rican American prospect with decent speed and power, but once he stepped up he was quickly subdued. Easily IMO this is even Edge even :\ So there you have it, Rios and Gamboa are pretty much evenly matched in terms of the opposition they've fought, at least imo anyway, but feel free to do your own fight for fight comparison and please tell me who u think fought the better opposition. This is my first thread... I'm way too excited for this fight :boxing:

Comments (20)

I thought the same thing, but I understand "EdWins" rationale. I think it's more accurate to call this a resume comparison. Nice thread, regardless. Yo thanks bro :boxing: but yeah, it's an overall resume comparison but also, the quality of opponents as in their strengths vs their weaknesses. Lets pretend all 10 of the aforementioned opponents were in the same exact weight class as both Rios and Gamboa, then how would you rank them; who would you say fought the better quality opponents?

14y ago

CubanGuyNYC

hello? rios has been fighting lightweights... I thought the same thing, but I understand "EdWins" rationale. I think it's more accurate to call this a resume comparison. Nice thread, regardless.

14y ago

CubanGuyNYC

Are u trying to say that Arum knows that Rios will make him more money in the long run thus he is willing to sacrifice gamboa to launch Rios in to a potential superstar status. Absolutely It's a definite possibility. I suppose it doesn't matter if Gamboa bumps off Rios, since there's always a potential Mexican golden goose to replace the next guy. If Brandon wins, he takes a step closer to stardom; the same goes for Yuri. It's a win-win for Arum (if Gamboa stays with "Top Rank," of course).

14y ago

ULTIMATE

frankly, and this is coming from me, who believes Rios is going to destroy and walk right through Gamboa, Gamboa's opponents had the bigger names but not necessarily the best fighter. I believe the Acosta that showed up to fight Rios was downright great that night. The fact Rios was able to overcome, break him down, and stop him tells me that Rios is special. That is not to say Gamboa is not... but Gamboa is much smaller than Rios. It is not a negligible difference. Gamboa does get hit... a lot.... by smaller fighters with less pop and yes... less skill than Rios. Also think about it, Gamboa could defeat 30 Rios's he simply can not reach super stardom status. He does not generate nor have the kind of following that a big win can propel him to the heights of Rios. Arum is smart, he knows this, he doesn't care to have 10 Joel Casamayor's when he can have 1 oscar de la hoya raking in the money for him. So he will sacrifice Gamboa for Rios to make the kinds of millions he wants him to make him. Rios vs Pacquiao Arum takes 30% of the entire purse. I was thinking about this too. Are u trying to say that Arum knows that Rios will make him more money in the long run thus he is willing to sacrifice gamboa to launch Rios in to a potential superstar status. Absolutely

14y ago

Bababoey970

frankly, and this is coming from me, who believes Rios is going to destroy and walk right through Gamboa, Gamboa's opponents had the bigger names but not necessarily the best fighter. I believe the Acosta that showed up to fight Rios was downright great that night. The fact Rios was able to overcome, break him down, and stop him tells me that Rios is special. That is not to say Gamboa is not... but Gamboa is much smaller than Rios. It is not a negligible difference. Gamboa does get hit... a lot.... by smaller fighters with less pop and yes... less skill than Rios. Also think about it, Gamboa could defeat 30 Rios's he simply can not reach super stardom status. He does not generate nor have the kind of following that a big win can propel him to the heights of Rios. Arum is smart, he knows this, he doesn't care to have 10 Joel Casamayor's when he can have 1 oscar de la hoya raking in the money for him. So he will sacrifice Gamboa for Rios to make the kinds of millions he wants him to make him. Rios vs Pacquiao Arum takes 30% of the entire purse.[/QUOTE I was thinking about this too. Are u trying to say that Arum knows that Rios will make him more money in the long run thus he is willing to sacrifice gamboa to launch Rios in to a potential superstar status.

14y ago

ULTIMATE

14y ago

New_England

I think he's trying to say if gamboa fought Murray, Antillon, Acosta and Peterson they would be tougher fights than ponce, solid, barros and mtagwa. Therefore Rios has fought the tougher comp. yes exactly. by virtue of the weight classes that separate them

14y ago

Bababoey970

What does weight have to do with the tougher opponent? I think he's trying to say if gamboa fought Murray, Antillon, Acosta and Peterson they would be tougher fights than ponce, solid, barros and mtagwa. Therefore Rios has fought the tougher comp.

14y ago

New_England

What does weight have to do with the tougher opponent? what? 4 lightweights is a harder run than 4 featherweights this isnt some abstract p4p comparison these two are going to fight rios fights bigger and tougher opponents. there are weight classes in boxing for a reason

14y ago

New_England

Gamboa easy. Ponce De Leon, Barros, Solis, and Salido > Acosta, Peterson, Antillon, and Murray four featherweights and four lightweights?

14y ago

New_England

hello? rios has been fighting lightweights...

14y ago

4Corners

Some very good points you made here, if I had to pick anybody to replace bradley's 9 spot on the P4P list imo it should be Bernard Hopkins. Bradley does not deserve a spot on the list at all imho. but I definitely concur with the bold portion of your comments. I think Hopkins should be on it as well. Vitali is probably the person I'd take off. Knowing how depleted the HW division is right now and how sub-par it has been for awhile, it's hard for me to see Vitali being Top 10 P4P. With Bernard beating an unbeaten Pavlik in 08' and then beating highly rated LHW Pascal last year, he deserves to be on it. I think Bradley does as well, he's clearly the best 140 lb fighter in the world, and has a pretty solid resume thus far. Casamayor did nothing for him, but his wins prior to that did.

14y ago

EdWins

While I agree that Donaire is way too high on the P4P list, Donaire did beat Darchinyan and Montiel when both were Top 10 P4P at the time. Aside from his Vic, Montiel, and H. Marquez wins though, he hasn't done a ton to deserve Top 5 P4P at all. Bradley earned a spot in the top 10. He has wins over Witter, Holt, Peterson, Abregu, and Alexander, all good wins when he fought them. His resume has looked even a bit better considering that's happened the past 3 months. Peterson fought a very tough fight with Amir Khan and Alexander just schooled Marcos Maidana. Who would you put on the list instead of Bradley RIGHT NOW??? You are making a case that Bradley shouldn''t be Top 10 P4P, so who would you put into the top 10 instead of Tim right now??? I totally agree that if Gamboa beats Rios in April, he should move into the Top 10 P4P ahead of Bradley. But, Bradley has a shot to move up into the top 1-2 spot once he fights Pacquiao in June anyway. So, we'll see what happens. I expect Pac to win, but I don't think it'll be a breeze for him at all. Some very good points you made here, if I had to pick anybody to replace bradley's 9 spot on the P4P list imo it should be Bernard Hopkins. Bradley does not deserve a spot on the list at all imho. but I definitely concur with the bold portion of your comments.

14y ago

4Corners

but look whose on the P4P list right now... what you got Donaire in there and Timothy Bradley, what did they do or who did they beat to get on there?? Nonito arguably made a name for himself dominating smaller men. And timothy? smh I don't even need to say it. the fact that Gamboa is willing to move up two weightclasses to fight a strong opponent like Rios, and Rios willing to once again practically kill himself to make 135 for a fight with a world class opponent like Gamboa automatically imo makes the winner one of the BEST. But perhaps I am a little too over excited :lol1: While I agree that Donaire is way too high on the P4P list, Donaire did beat Darchinyan and Montiel when both were Top 10 P4P at the time. Aside from his Vic, Montiel, and H. Marquez wins though, he hasn't done a ton to deserve Top 5 P4P at all. Bradley earned a spot in the top 10. He has wins over Witter, Holt, Peterson, Abregu, and Alexander, all good wins when he fought them. His resume has looked even a bit better considering that's happened the past 3 months. Peterson fought a very tough fight with Amir Khan and Alexander just schooled Marcos Maidana. Who would you put on the list instead of Bradley RIGHT NOW??? You are making a case that Bradley shouldn''t be Top 10 P4P, so who would you put into the top 10 instead of Tim right now??? I totally agree that if Gamboa beats Rios in April, he should move into the Top 10 P4P ahead of Bradley. But, Bradley has a shot to move up into the top 1-2 spot once he fights Pacquiao in June anyway. So, we'll see what happens. I expect Pac to win, but I don't think it'll be a breeze for him at all.

14y ago

4Corners

Gamboa easy. Ponce De Leon, Barros, Solis, and Salido > Acosta, Peterson, Antillon, and Murray

14y ago

RomeByKo

Good question,and tbh I say it's about even..I think this will be the toughest fight either has had in their careers...

14y ago

EdWins

Maybe top 10 p4p is a bit much aswell. If Rios dominates it's gonna be said he beat a blown up FW. If Gamboa dominates it's gonna be said he beat a weight drained LW. but look whose on the P4P list right now... what you got Donaire in there and Timothy Bradley, what did they do or who did they beat to get on there?? Nonito arguably made a name for himself dominating smaller men. And timothy? smh I don't even need to say it. the fact that Gamboa is willing to move up two weightclasses to fight a strong opponent like Rios, and Rios willing to once again practically kill himself to make 135 for a fight with a world class opponent like Gamboa automatically imo makes the winner one of the BEST. But perhaps I am a little too over excited :lol1:

14y ago

catalinul

Maybe top 10 p4p is a bit much aswell. If Rios dominates it's gonna be said he beat a blown up FW. If Gamboa dominates it's gonna be said he beat a weight drained LW.

14y ago

EdWins

Yes he did even though he didn't get the decision(and I'm a big Broner fan). 100% or not Salido lost and lost badly.And he wouldn't put to much trouble to Gamboa either way. IMO their opposition level is about the same with Gamboa having the slightly better opposition. damn I gotta go rewatch Ponce-Broner :omfg: And yeah I think your right, Salido wouldn't be a problem for Gamboa eitherway. I also agree that they are pretty much even opposition wise, but I would not give a slight edge to Gamboa. Gamboa-Rios is going to be their best fight and whoever wins deserves a spot in the top 10 P4P imo

14y ago

EdWins

Gamboa too skillful for Rios moves too fast for Rios to hit effectively could very well be the case. But I think Rios will eventually land a good strike, and once he does, Gamboa will be effected both physically and mentally. People have to keep in mind that Rios isn't just strong physically, he's also one of the strongest fighters in the game MENTALLY, so I hear anyway, and so he's a tough fighter that cannot be discouraged. And that in itselft can mentally effect his opponent, who keeps landing hard shots flush and Rios keeps coming and occasionally landing even harder punches. :boxing:

14y ago