Cuauhtemoc1520's take on this weekend 6/28/2014

[Cuauhtémoc1520]

I been really busy so I couldn't make this thread on Monday. My computer at work crashed as well, and I just got a new one. Anyway I wanted to talk about the Gamboa fight, and who Danny Garcia chose to fight next.

Crawford vs Gamboa

First off, what a great fight. I never expected it to go the way it did, because both fighters are really good boxers. I expected more of a tactical fight but instead we got a war for 9 rounds.

I really thought Gamboa looked good the first 4 rounds but I also think that happens because of his speed. Once he starts to slow down just a little bit, he becomes really vulnerable. I'm surprised because you would think a fighter with his amateur experience, coming from the Cuban school of boxing would be more sound in his fundamentals, but he looked like a rookie out there after round 5 or so.

He was swinging wildly, throwing huge looping shots from the outside and Crawford countered beautifully. His decision to switch lefty was genius. Roy Jones Jr questioned it, but it had more to do with the lead jab, it was the right hook that really did Gamboa in. He just stepped back off that looping left hook, and threw the right hook counter to perfection.

Once Gamboa was hurt, he lost all composure. His father wasn't really telling him what to do except keep his hands up. He just kept allowing Gamboa to swing wildly and be completely out of control. I understand Gamboa was hurt, but even after he recovered, he just seemed like he threw any game plan they had out of the window. Also, one of the reasons I picked Crawford was because of inactivity on the part of Gamboa, boxing is NOT like riding a bicycle. You need to stay active to stay sharp and relevant.

While this was a great performance by Crawford, he did beat up on a featherweight. Crawford is a lagit lightweight and he was just muscling Gamboa all around the ring. Whoever told Gamboa to not fight Brandon Rios, he should be thanking because Rios puts Gamboa in the hospital. He's just too small, too short for lightweight and should drop back down as much as he can.

The problem with Gamboa is that he has a lot of muscle to him, so that limits his ability to really cut weight and keep his strength.

Danny Garcia

I listened to Teddy Atlas last night go on about Danny Garcia and him choosing Salka and I couldn't have agreed more. I have been involved in this sport for a long time, and I'm supposed to work the corner for one of my fighters in the Mendez vs Barthelemy fight and there's been a change of venue and serious problems with the promotion.

This is why boxing is now a fringe sport in the U.S, because the public is sick of these corrupt decisions to fight unranked fighters, no organization when it comes to promoting shows, and nobody governing the sport from the outside.

I really wish that the government would get involved and stop these types of blatant match making and turn this sport around.

Teddy was 100% right, and when I heard about the decision, I couldn't believe it. It probably has nothing to do with Danny Garcia, he fights who they tell him but his people should be ashamed.

[CubanGuyNYC]

I been really busy so I couldn't make this thread on Monday. My computer at work crashed as well, and I just got a new one. Anyway I wanted to talk about the Gamboa fight, and who Danny Garcia chose to fight next.

Crawford vs Gamboa

First off, what a great fight. I never expected it to go the way it did, because both fighters are really good boxers. I expected more of a tactical fight but instead we got a war for 9 rounds.

I really thought Gamboa looked good the first 4 rounds but I also think that happens because of his speed. Once he starts to slow down just a little bit, he becomes really vulnerable. I'm surprised because you would think a fighter with his amateur experience, coming from the Cuban school of boxing would be more sound in his fundamentals, but he looked like a rookie out there after round 5 or so.

He was swinging wildly, throwing huge looping shots from the outside and Crawford countered beautifully. His decision to switch lefty was genius. Roy Jones Jr questioned it, but it had more to do with the lead jab, it was the right hook that really did Gamboa in. He just stepped back off that looping left hook, and threw the right hook counter to perfection.

Once Gamboa was hurt, he lost all composure. His father wasn't really telling him what to do except keep his hands up. He just kept allowing Gamboa to swing wildly and be completely out of control. I understand Gamboa was hurt, but even after he recovered, he just seemed like he threw any game plan they had out of the window. Also, one of the reasons I picked Crawford was because of inactivity on the part of Gamboa, boxing is NOT like riding a bicycle. You need to stay active to stay sharp and relevant.

While this was a great performance by Crawford, he did beat up on a featherweight. Crawford is a lagit lightweight and he was just muscling Gamboa all around the ring. Whoever told Gamboa to not fight Brandon Rios, he should be thanking because Rios puts Gamboa in the hospital. He's just too small, too short for lightweight and should drop back down as much as he can.

The problem with Gamboa is that he has a lot of muscle to him, so that limits his ability to really cut weight and keep his strength.

That fight was bitter-sweet for me. It hurt to watch Yuri get knocked around the ring like that, but it made me proud to see him go out on his shield. Gamboa's detractors have always predicted he would get knocked out due to his hands-down style, but I don't think many of them foresaw how it would actually happen. It took a top lightweight to do it, and Gamboa kept rising off the canvass right up until the ref waived it off. Yuri is a balls-out warrior.

I didn't expect Gamboa to do as well as he did, to be honest. As you said, he's been inactive and he's too small for 135. He looked like the "Ciclon" of old in the first four rounds. The speed and athleticism were still there, and he had decent pop. But, by the end of the fourth round, I detected Yuri was gassing. (I texted Cubanborn87 about it as I watched.) Right then, and with the subsequent knockdown in the fifth, I feared it would be all downhill from there. Watching Gamboa's reactions to the change in tide, I couldn't help but yell at the screen: "Keep your hands up!" "Get out of there!" "Don't Exchange!" But Yuri just reverted to his nature and made it a shootout.

So many things were aligned against Gamboa in this fight it would've been a minor miracle if he had won. He was fighting for only the third time in three years, he was undersized, he was obviously lacking conditioning and his corner isn't befitting of a world-class fighter. Many of Yuri's fans, including myself, view his trainer (his father, Carlos) as lacking. Gamboa posted a response on Facebook yesterday defending his dad. It was actually pretty touching, but it was clearly stubbornly loyal.

I'm more curious than ever to see where Yuri's career goes from here. He's too small for lightweight, but I don't think he can make 126 anymore. He might be destined to make 130 his home, like it or not. Whatever happens, I hope Gamboa takes real steps to salvage what's left of his potential. After the Darlys Perez fight, many of us feared we would never see "El Ciclon" again, but it's obvious now Yuri is still an electrifying fighter.

[CubanGuyNYC]

Danny Garcia

I listened to Teddy Atlas last night go on about Danny Garcia and him choosing Salka and I couldn't have agreed more. I have been involved in this sport for a long time, and I'm supposed to work the corner for one of my fighters in the Mendez vs Barthelemy fight and there's been a change of venue and serious problems with the promotion.

This is why boxing is now a fringe sport in the U.S, because the public is sick of these corrupt decisions to fight unranked fighters, no organization when it comes to promoting shows, and nobody governing the sport from the outside.

I really wish that the government would get involved and stop these types of blatant match making and turn this sport around.

Teddy was 100% right, and when I heard about the decision, I couldn't believe it. It probably has nothing to do with Danny Garcia, he fights who they tell him but his people should be ashamed.

It's not too often you see someone in the media boldly make statements like that on camera the way Teddy did. I'm drawing a blank on the guy's name, but the last time I saw that, it was an NBC newscaster going off on the Bush administration's handling of Hurricane Katrina. He basically stated that the government was dragging its heels because Katrina primarily affected black people.

That brings up a couple of thoughts: one, corruption is not the exclusive domain of boxing; and, two, government intervention is not necessarily the solution to the sport's problems. I don't know what the answer is, but boxing is a mess.

I hope the turnout to the Mendez-Barthelemy fight is decent. The powers-that-be have really dropped the ball on the promotion. If the turnout is weak, many will claim it's because Cubans don't support their fighters, or that Miami is simply not a sports town. Few will understand what really went down. The promotion hasn't just been terrible, it's been virtually non-existent. Don't people usually go into business to make money?

[Cuauhtémoc1520]

I don't know if minor miracle is the phrase I would use. Gamboa is an explosive fighter, and I knew would be dangerous at least early.

The problem obviously is size and the fact he slows down later on in the fight. Crawford was exceptional though, he can fight equally well righty or lefty. Very few can do that in the history of the sport and that alone will make him a tough fight for anyone.

How about Vasquez vs Crawford? Maybe not super entertaining as far as average fans are concerned, but for the hard core, it makes for very interesting styles.

[Cuauhtémoc1520]

It's not too often you see someone in the media boldly make statements like that on camera the way Teddy did. I'm drawing a blank on the guy's name, but the last time I saw that, it was an NBC newscaster going off on the Bush administration's handling of Hurricane Katrina. He basically stated that the government was dragging its heels because Katrina primarily affected black people.

That brings up a couple of thoughts: one, corruption is not the exclusive domain of boxing; and, two, government intervention is not necessarily the solution to the sport's problems. I don't know what the answer is, but boxing is a mess.

I hope the turnout to the Mendez-Barthelemy fight is decent. The powers-that-be have really dropped the ball on the promotion. If the turnout is weak, many will claim it's because Cubans don't support their fighters, or that Miami is simply not a sports town. Few will understand what really went down. The promotion hasn't just been terrible, it's been virtually non-existent. Don't people usually go into business to make money?

I think government intervention in the sport is the ONLY answer. Because unfortunately inviting anyone else to do it will just bring more corruption.

There should be a boxing Czar like Sen McCain proposed one year. Have someone to over see the business aspect of things, and not necessarily get involved in everything, just make sure the rankings are lagit, and the sanctioning bodies aren't taking advantage of the fighters and sport.

Boxing needs something man, desperately.

[CubanGuyNYC]

I don't know if minor miracle is the phrase I would use. Gamboa is an explosive fighter, and I knew would be dangerous at least early.

The problem obviously is size and the fact he slows down later on in the fight. Crawford was exceptional though, he can fight equally well righty or lefty. Very few can do that in the history of the sport and that alone will make him a tough fight for anyone.

How about Vasquez vs Crawford? Maybe not super entertaining as far as average fans are concerned, but for the hard core, it makes for very interesting styles.

Gamboa's style depends on his speed and athleticism. Once those start to wane, he comes down to earth. It's tough for anyone to effectively carry those qualities deep into a fight. Yuri's dangerous to many at lightweight in the early going, but I think most guys can take his power and force Gamboa to go long. Against the top guys, that probably means a loss.

I'd like to see Vasquez-Crawford. It would be interesting me, at least. The top guys should always fight each other. Better than Garcia-Salka. lol

I think government intervention in the sport is the ONLY answer. Because unfortunately inviting anyone else to do it will just bring more corruption.

There should be a boxing Czar like Sen McCain proposed one year. Have someone to over see the business aspect of things, and not necessarily get involved in everything, just make sure the rankings are lagit, and the sanctioning bodies aren't taking advantage of the fighters and sport.

Boxing needs something man, desperately.

Maybe you're right. Maybe government intervention is the only viable answer, flawed though it may be. I'm just not a fan of big government. I'm always a little leary of it.

[SlySlickSmooth]

They even brought up on a slide the WBC rule that shows they allow "certain fighters" to fight for the title under "special circumstances." Teddy went off.

[CubanGuyNYC]

They even brought up on a slide the WBC rule that shows they allow "certain fighters" to fight for the title under "special circumstances." Teddy went off.

I would love to know what they consider to be "special circumstances" in this case.

[Cuauhtémoc1520]

Gamboa's style depends on his speed and athleticism. Once those start to wane, he comes down to earth. It's tough for anyone to effectively carry those qualities deep into a fight. Yuri's dangerous to many at lightweight in the early going, but I think most guys can take his power and force Gamboa to go long. Against the top guys, that probably means a loss.

I'd like to see Vasquez-Crawford. It would be interesting me, at least. The top guys should always fight each other. Better than Garcia-Salka. lol



Maybe you're right. Maybe government intervention is the only viable answer, flawed though it may be. I'm just not a fan of big government. I'm always a little leary of it.

I like Gamboa but I also think inactivity hurt him.

I agree with you, the govt isn't the best option, but when you put people in charge that have the bottom line as the main priority, it doesn't go well.

They even brought up on a slide the WBC rule that shows they allow "certain fighters" to fight for the title under "special circumstances." Teddy went off.

Special circumstances = big fight later on down the road so let's give him a mulligan. Wouldn't it be hilarious if Slaka beats Garcia? Holy **** that would be great.

[BattleAxePurist]

To be Honest Crawford always switches to lefty I don't know the % but I bet he fights more out of a lefty stance than righty or close to it so the criticism he got initially and the praise afterwards sort of equal out, it was to be expected.