Yuriorkis Gamboa: record, next fight and profile →
By Jake Donovan - A battle of unbeaten lightweights saw Yuriorkis Gamboa preserve his "0" with a lackluster decision win over Darleys Perez at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada. Scores were 116-111 (twice) and 115-112 for Gamboa in their HBO-televised co-feature, which served as the supporting bout to the lineal light heavyweight championship between Chad Dawson and Adonis Stevenson.
Two years ago, Yuriorkis Gamboa was recognized as the best featherweight in the world, so good that Top Rank did its best to avoid any chance at a showdown with prized possession Juan Manuel Lopez. The superfight that could have been instead saw its bottom fall out altogether when Lopez suffered a knockout loss to Orlando Salido. Gamboa was sent in another direction – up the scale for a scheduled showdown with then-unbeaten lightweight Brandon Rios. The fight never happened, as Gamboa bolted from the promotion and eventually from Top Rank.
The weights are in for Saturday’s HBO Boxing After Dark doubleheader airs live from Montreal’s Bell Centre at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT. The opening bout features the return of Yuriorkis Gamboa as he move up in weight to take on Darley Perez in a scheduled 12-round fight in the lightweight division. The main event of the evening pits WBC light heavyweight champ Chad Dawson against dangerous super middleweight Adonis Stevenson in a title bout scheduled for 12 rounds.
Tony González, manager of Olympic champion Yuriorkis Gamboa, is frustrated that his boxer is unable to secure some of the necessary key matches in the lower divisions. He says the reason Gamboa moved up to 135-pounds is because they were unable to make fights with other contenders and champions at the weight. Gamboa faces undefeated Darley Perez on Saturday night at the Bell Centre in Montreal. HBO will televise the contest. Gonzalez reflects on Gamboa's past and claims Top Rank kept his fighter away from Juan Manuel "Juamna" Lopez, although both were under the same promotional banner at the time.
A tense press conference took place for Saturday's HBO televised doubleheader from the Bell Centre in Montreal. In the main event, light heavyweight champ Chad Dawson (31-2, 17 KOs) from New Haven, Ct. returns to the 175-pound division to take on Adonis Stevenson (20-1, 17 KOs), originally from Haiti and now living in Longueuil, Canada, in a scheduled 12-round title match. After a loss to super middleweight champ Andre Ward, Dawson looks to get back on track and stay atop the light heavyweight ranks. Stevenson has been tearing through the super middleweight division and is on a seven-bout win streak following his only loss, in 2010. This fight marks his debut at 175 pounds. Photos by Robert Levesque/A.R. PhotoZone.
By Jake Donovan - Darley Perez and his team knew the uphill battle awaiting them the moment contracts were signed to face prodigious Yuriorkis Gamboa. Oddsmakers didn’t waste any time in declaring the fight a mismatch; Gamboa is a 16-1 favorite to come out on top Saturday evening in Montreal, Canada. The perception that Perez is being served up as a sacrificial lamb suits him just fine. In fact, it’s part of the motivation of why he was so eager to get Gamboa in the ring for this weekend’s bout. “Yuriorkis Gamboa is in for the fight of his life,” Perez (28-0, 19KO) insists of Saturday’s co-feature bout, playing beneath a main event that pits light heavyweight king Chad Dawson against Adonis Stevenson. “The world will be stunned on June 8; so too will Gamboa. I warned him to prepare for me like I’ve prepared for him. I hope he’s ready because I know I am.”
Olympic gold medal winner Yuriorkis Gamboa (22-0, 16KOs) is putting in work for Saturday's match against fellow unbeaten Darley Perez (28-0, 19KOs) at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada. Gamboa moves up to the lightweight division to face Perez in an HBO televised match for the vacant interim-WBA title. Photos by Robert Levesque/A.R. Photozone.
Darley Perez of Colombia (28-0, 19 KO) will look to counter Yuriorkis Gamboa (22-0, 16 KO) on Saturday night as part of the HBO televised undercard at the Bell Centre in Quebec, Canada. Chad Dawson defending his WBC light heavyweight title against Adonis Stevenson is the headliner of the night. Perez has seen Gamboa hurt, and dropped, in several fights from counter punches.
BoxingScene.com recently caught up with with former featherweight champion Yuriorkis Gamboa. The Olympic gold medalist faces hard hitting Darley Perez of Colombia on June 8th in Montreal, Canada. The fight will be televised by HBO as the co-feature to the Chad Dawson versus Adonis Stevenson fight. Gamboa last fought in December when he defeated Michael Farenas via unanimous decision. Although he scored two knockdowns in the fight, he was knocked down himself and appeared rusty. He said that he plans on putting on a better showing on June 8th.
Undefeated lightweight contender Darley Perez (28-0, 19 KOs) has signed on to fight explosive Cuban superstar Yuriorkis Gamboa (22-0, 16 KOs) in the co-feature of an HBO telecast taking place on June 8th, live from the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada. The main event that evening will be a light heavyweight title tilt between Chad Dawson and Adonis Stevenson. Perez vs. Gamboa is a strong addition to an already stellar night of boxing.