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By Cliff Rold - For the second week, we have a pair of well-matched talents who enter the ring with plenty of questions left to answer. Making only his third start since 2011, the challenger Gamboa enters with two questions in particular.
Will he ever live up to the initial excitement generated by his talents?
Have we already seen his best stuff?
Of the two, Gamboa is the more known commodity, for better and worse. Crawford is catching up as regards what is known and there hasn’t been any ‘for worse’ yet. Wins over Breidis Prescott in his development, and Ricky Burns for his first title, are highlights so far of what looks like a career with a high ceiling.
While Gamboa may have an overall edge in experience, Crawford appears the more disciplined and is both taller physically bigger. This is the best opponent of each man’s career.
It’s a coin flip fight.
That’s a good thing.
Gamboa, in his last two fights, hasn’t seemed as nasty fast as he was at Featherweight. Is that a product of added size, age, or a little bit of disinterest? From early on in his career, Gamboa has been a fighter with lapses in attention. He’s been down in several bouts, almost always for defensive breakdowns that seem to grow from a loss of focus in fights he’s otherwise winning easy.
It’s enough to ask if he gets bored in the ring. When he’s shown up dialed in, with something to prove, Gamboa has been a force. When he had rugged guys like Rogers Mtagwa and Jorge Solis in front of him and the chance to measure his performance against Juan Manuel Lopez and Manny Pacquiao, he was breathtaking. No, the opponents weren’t top shelf, but Gamboa showed what he could do to competent pros when he was fully on.
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Will he ever live up to the initial excitement generated by his talents?
Have we already seen his best stuff?
Of the two, Gamboa is the more known commodity, for better and worse. Crawford is catching up as regards what is known and there hasn’t been any ‘for worse’ yet. Wins over Breidis Prescott in his development, and Ricky Burns for his first title, are highlights so far of what looks like a career with a high ceiling.
While Gamboa may have an overall edge in experience, Crawford appears the more disciplined and is both taller physically bigger. This is the best opponent of each man’s career.
It’s a coin flip fight.
That’s a good thing.
Gamboa, in his last two fights, hasn’t seemed as nasty fast as he was at Featherweight. Is that a product of added size, age, or a little bit of disinterest? From early on in his career, Gamboa has been a fighter with lapses in attention. He’s been down in several bouts, almost always for defensive breakdowns that seem to grow from a loss of focus in fights he’s otherwise winning easy.
It’s enough to ask if he gets bored in the ring. When he’s shown up dialed in, with something to prove, Gamboa has been a force. When he had rugged guys like Rogers Mtagwa and Jorge Solis in front of him and the chance to measure his performance against Juan Manuel Lopez and Manny Pacquiao, he was breathtaking. No, the opponents weren’t top shelf, but Gamboa showed what he could do to competent pros when he was fully on.
[Click Here To Read More]
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