Gamboa vs Salido Sept. 11th

[consortium11]

I think this fight may actually do Gamboa good long term. Every fight before this he's been in pretty much complete control... even when he's been knocked down it's generally been flash knockdowns which he's come from back to dominate. This fight he was made to work and frustrated... and that came through with some of his petulance.

He'll wake up tomorrow afternoon and be better for having been made to work 12 hard rounds, to learn that he can't rely on flash and style to power his way through every fight.

 

[consortium11]

I'm curious too....

I did a quick google search and nothing came up. The closest I can find is that they were both trained by Robert Garcia and that Ortiz brought Rios to Garcia's attention.

Can't find anything outside of that.

 

[Lazy Man]

I have a burning desire to see Gambo KO'd for some reason

 

[Prophetic~Poet]

I did a quick google search and nothing came up. The closest I can find is that they were both trained by Robert Garcia and that Ortiz brought Rios to Garcia's attention.

Can't find anything outside of that.

interesting....

 

[McMurder]

I did a quick google search and nothing came up. The closest I can find is that they were both trained by Robert Garcia and that Ortiz brought Rios to Garcia's attention.

Can't find anything outside of that.

Aren't they both from Kansas or Kentucky or something? maybe they have a amateur rivalry or something.

 

[consortium11]

I have a burning desire to see Gambo KO'd for some reason

I agree. I'm not a hater... it's not like he's Chad Dawson or Amir Khan... and I enjoy watching him fight. But he just has this smug look on his face the entire time and I'd love to see it knocked off. Not necessarily by his getting KO'd badly... but if someone just knocked him down hard and he had to bite his teeth down on his gumshield, survive for a bit and then comeback.

interesting....

Aren't they both from Kansas or Kentucky or something? maybe they have a amateur rivalry or something.

They could be rivals from the amateur days... Rios had a great amateur career... but that seems to go against the fact Ortiz would help Rios by recommending him to a trainer. Also, as far as I know (and I'm happy to be corrected) Rios has always been an Oxnard Kid, so I doubt it's a rivalry on a local basis.

Some camp/trainer shenanigans gone bad?

I'll be watching the boxing press to hear more.

 

[Vlad76]

Gamboa faced a B level Mexican warrior with great chin and bad boxing skills, just wait until he faces an A class Mexican fighter, he sure as hell is going to get Ko'd.

 

[TalonG]

gamboas one of my fav

 

[TalonG]

Gamboa faced a B level Mexican warrior with great chin and bad boxing skills, just wait until he faces an A class Mexican fighter, he sure as hell is going to get Ko'd.

so you're saying gamboa is not a good fighter? when has he ever been hurt? when has his opponent ever been more skilled than him? what medal did he win the olympics? what is the country he's from known for?

 

[Vlad76]

so you're saying gamboa is not a good fighter? when has he ever been hurt? when has his opponent ever been more skilled than him? what medal did he win the olympics? what is the country he's from known for?

Yes he has been hurt before, he was put on his ass 5 times in his pro career did you know?

What opponent ever been more skilled than him? Has he faced any top 5 in the world? NO

Yes he won a fucking gold medal and he is from Cuba so what.

Did you see this fight we are talking about? Did you see his performance vs a B level fighter? I bet you didn

 

[11b83]

I like Gamboa but he keeps his hands so low. He's been dropped already 5 times in his career.

 

[Jacob Black]

I always wondered what would happen if Gamboa faced a prime Barrera, or now, god forbid, a prime Morales.
He's super talented, but he gets frustrated to easy. He has this, "I'm so much better than you, why haven't you gone to sleep yet?" look on his face every time he lands a combo.

 

[consortium11]

I'm not a Gamboa fan in the slightest... but this is a pretty one-sided analysis.

Yes he has been hurt before, he was put on his ass 5 times in his pro career did you know?

How many times has he gone down and been genuinely hurt? How many times has he had to survive a round?

IIRC most of his knockdowns are as much due to him being off balance as they are with people landing big shots on him. Obviously it's not a good thing and as he faces more and more power punchers it's something he'll need to work on but it's not as if he's been made to fight life and death in bouts.

What opponent ever been more skilled than him? Has he faced any top 5 in the world? NO

Two points:

1) While a lot of Gamboa's "skill" comes from his natural attributes and (as this fight shows as much as any other) when his speed and power don't either blow people away or dazzle them out he's not exactly a raw slugger in there. Who are the other fighters at FW who you'd called more skilled? Chris John and Caballero are the two obvious choices but after that it's a struggle? Ponce De Leon? Bernabe Concepcion? Elio Rojas?

2) Ring magazine currently rank Salido at No. 4 in the world, down from 3.

Yes he won a fucking gold medal and he is from Cuba so what.

If you can't see the innate natural ability of Gamboa and how if properly harnessed that could make him one of the great boxers of our day then there's an issue for you... and him being a Cuban gold medal winner is part of that.

Did you see this fight we are talking about? Did you see his performance vs a B level fighter? I bet you didn

 

[Kakimori]

It wasn't a great performance, it was barely even a good performance, but Gamboa still handily beat a guy the Ring ranked top 4 and was a tough veteran who never stopped coming forward. In terms of development it was a far better win for Gamboa than if he's wiped him out in 3 rounds. Gamboa is still clearly adapting to the pro-style... the fact he could blow out most opponents previously covered up his deficiencies... and that showed in this fight. A fighter like Gamboa needs these performances, need to see that he has holes in his game and needs to be forced to work for 12 rounds.

This. That's what Roy Jones never really had...he was never really forced to look at himself and cover up all the flaws in his style.

 

[Vlad76]

I'm not a Gamboa fan in the slightest... but this is a pretty one-sided analysis.



How many times has he gone down and been genuinely hurt? How many times has he had to survive a round?

IIRC most of his knockdowns are as much due to him being off balance as they are with people landing big shots on him. Obviously it's not a good thing and as he faces more and more power punchers it's something he'll need to work on but it's not as if he's been made to fight life and death in bouts.



Two points:

1) While a lot of Gamboa's "skill" comes from his natural attributes and (as this fight shows as much as any other) when his speed and power don't either blow people away or dazzle them out he's not exactly a raw slugger in there. Who are the other fighters at FW who you'd called more skilled? Chris John and Caballero are the two obvious choices but after that it's a struggle? Ponce De Leon? Bernabe Concepcion? Elio Rojas?

2) Ring magazine currently rank Salido at No. 4 in the world, down from 3.



If you can't see the innate natural ability of Gamboa and how if properly harnessed that could make him one of the great boxers of our day then there's an issue for you... and him being a Cuban gold medal winner is part of that.




It wasn't a great performance, it was barely even a good performance, but Gamboa still handily beat a guy the Ring ranked top 4 and was a tough veteran who never stopped coming forward. In terms of development it was a far better win for Gamboa than if he's wiped him out in 3 rounds. Gamboa is still clearly adapting to the pro-style... the fact he could blow out most opponents previously covered up his deficiencies... and that showed in this fight. A fighter like Gamboa needs these performances, need to see that he has holes in his game and needs to be forced to work for 12 rounds.

His next fight should be interesting. The WBA has recently mandated a unification between Gamboa and Chris John (which as they're currently No.1 and No.3 ranked would also give us a Ring champion). Can John's style pick apart the at times wild Gamboa? Can Gamboa's sheer youth and physical ability tear through John? Is going to suffer the same fate Calderon did, his age catching up with him against a younger, fresher challenger?

And can Celestino Caballero ever get a fight?

Great points, you seem to be a good boxing fan so tell me from your heart; do you consider Salido a N

 

[consortium11]

Great points, you seem to be a good boxing fan so tell me from your heart; do you consider Salido a N

 

[Vlad76]

Well... yeah, I kinda do.

Look who else there is at FW. Obviously Chris John rules the roost but after that it's a little messy. Gamboa and Lopez are both up there... but both have struggled (or atleast, not looked great) in recent fights. Caballero only just moved up... and while right now I'd pick him to beat anyone at the weight class and Yodan is a good win he's still new to division. I like Cristobal Cruz (who is better than a quick glance at his record shows...) but Salido just avenged his loss to him. Rojas is still a basically a prospect (despite holding the WBC title). I like Ponce de Leon but he hasn't set the world alight at the higher weight classes... we'll find out more when he faces Escalante. Bernabe Concepcion just got slugged out by Lopez and again hasn't set the world alight. Finally there's Rafael Marquez who's a bit of an unknown... quite how much does he have left after his wars with Vasquez? The fight with Lopez will show that.

So yes, as much to do with the state of flux of the rest of the division, I'd have Salido in the top 5 prior to this bout



His boxing technique isn't brilliant... but that's not his style. His style has always been breaking people down by hard work and aggression... and he's been damn good at it.

Seeing as he was IBF champion prior to being stripped by the IBF for putting on too much weight I'd say he's world champion material.



It depends what you mean by "respected world champion". Even at this stage of development I struggle to see how many outside of John, Lopez, Caballero and possibly Marquez (as I say, depending on what he has left) to beat him. If Gamboa (without noticeably improving) were to clear out the rest of his division then of course he'd be a respected world champion.

Gamboa got the belt very softly... and hasn't really faced a top contender up to this point. He got his first test and, while he didn't pass with flying colours, he still passed.

Should he being entered into everyone's P4P lists? No... but he's starting to position himself as a respected champion. If he faces John next and goes on to beat him then there can be no doubt.



I agree to an extent... the smirk annoys me and as I recall someone else saying (although I can't remember who to give credit) he seems to have a look on his face that when he throws an impressive looking flurry and either 1) Nothing lands cleanly or 2) something lands cleanly but the opponent doesn't immediately collapse that just screams "I'm so much better than you, why aren't you just giving up?".

That said over the years we've been inundated with "can't miss" Cuban prospects who have had great amateur careers... but once they reach Miami with its Cuban expats and get their first taste of freedom they leave the boxing gym behind for the fast food joint and never achieve a measure of the success Gamboa has already had. Even a great HW prospect like Solis has gone from winning the gold at the 2004 olympics at around 200lbs to starting his career in the 250s and having gone as high as 271lbs.

For all his sins Gamboa at least seems dedicated to staying in shape. Up until this point he's been able to win (and often win well) on the basis of his natural talent and minor changes (such as being a little more cautious when charging in). This has been the first fight where he's been tested and I imagine he'll be the better for it.



Once again, being top 5 is dependant on your division. Considering the nature of the division I have no problem saying he's do well against several other fighters who could be ranked in the top 5. Featherweight is a good division but it's a division dominated by fighters with question marks over their names... are Lopez and Gamboa all they're cracked up to be? Would Cabellero be able to perform as well as he does against marquee opposition? Is age starting to catch up with Chris John? How much does Marquez have left?

For a quick example of what I mean look at the Jr. FW division. With Gamboa, Lopez and Cabellero leaving there's a huge gap there... which leads to someone like Rendall Monroe being ranked 6th by Ring. Now, I'm a fan of Monroe and he does have some good wins... but in a more competitive division he'd be struggling to make the top 10. Likewise 154lbs has Ryan Rhodes as the 5th best fighter in that weightclass. Now I like Rhodes and I think he's better than people think... but he's still only ever beaten European level opposition. In a stronger weightclass he'd again be struggling to make the top 10.

There are flaws with Gamboa... but depending on your weightclass a flawed fighter (even a heavily flawed one) can still be top 5.

Yes the division is not stacked, and Gamboa had an easy road to the top, I still don

 

[consortium11]

Yes the division is not stacked, and Gamboa had an easy road to the top, I still don