Quote:
Originally Posted by
Nonito Donaire
Taeth sorry but speed isn't everything im not sold on him at all, and he certainly ain't the new RJJ. I never see RJJ getting hit with even one solid punch in his prime, let alone getting dropped like a sack almost half a dozen times in only 13 fights.
Yuriorkis Gamboa showed flashes of some technical fighting yesterday, but like i said "Flashes". His concentration in the ring is disappointing, he seems to get bored very easily. Then he starts fighting like a wild animal, diving in with his hands below his waist.
And a good puncher with decent enough countering skills, would be able to time Yuriorkis Gamboa coming in then BOOM. Say goodnight Yuriorkis Gamboa. And he actually did get countered last night thats why he went down, and he did leave many chances for that shot again, even after being knocked down.
And his defense dear me don't even get me started on that, its horrendous and he's a KO waiting to happen. I do like Yuriorkis Gamboa and he's good for the sport with his exciting style, but he seems to me he hasn't naturally got defense on his mind at all. He doesn't fight technical enough and he relies too much on his reflexes. His power is somewhat overrated aswell and he also relies too much on that.
I would like him to hold his hands higher, use the jab more. And fight more technical, when he did do that in spurts he looked very good. And if he did manage to do all those things which i just said, he could be one of the new P4P 10 fighters in a few years.
But as for now im for certain not sold on him and if he carries on, the way he has been carrying on with his cocky attitude in the ring, and his non-existent defense he will be KO'ed.
Lou Devalle? Did you see that fight? Roy Jones Jr got hit cleanly by plenty of guys in his career. His chin was underrated. Once again who has landed at a high rate on Gamboa? Just because he doesn't fight like a conventional fighter doesn't mean he isn't technically savy. His footwork is great, his bobbing and weaving is amazing, he throws punches properly(I would like to obviously see him plant more on his hooks, but its his style), and his ring generalship is there. This fight he hardly ever dived in like he used to, and he only did so when he knew Gonzalez wasn't throwing back. Also I am not sure which career you were watching, but the one knockdown that Gamboa has had that wasn't related to balance was an elbow.
Roy Jones Jr didn't keep his hands up, but he barely got hit, last night Gamboa didn't keep his hands up, but he got hit under 20% of the time, if it was even as high as the compubox stated.
As for the jab, he doesn't need it, he is quick enough at getting in that, he doesn't need the jab just like Roy and Floyd used it less as they went up.
Also you talk about mental lapses, but how come everytime(albeit few times) Gonzalez tried to counter, Gamboa was able to evade punches in manner that only somebody who is very sharp would be able to do? He definitely has put on a certain bravado in the past, but it wasn't there last night. He was countered decisively ONCE in a whole fight, Mayweather was countered more than that against slow Baldomir. Mayweather countered plenty on his rise to the top and was hit plenty.
Roy Jones Jr on his way up fought very conservatively(unless his opponent was hurt), he was way bigger than his opponents at 154 so he could entirely control the fight. Roy also didn't take a step up in class until he was quite far into his career, Gamboa has come along much faster.
Gamboa at 22 was fighting in the 112 pound weight division when he won the Olympics, he is fighting 14 pounds north of there.
I definitely see your point of him potentially getting knocked out because of his style, but I don't think its going to happen. There has been too much of a change in his style, he is too fast(with timing), and he is too good of a boxer. You are right ICB that speed isn't everything, but speed doesn't make you the type of amateur he was. He is a lot more than just speed.
Another thing to note is that Gamboa has only been stopped once in his recorded amateur career(over 200+ fights) and it was because he had an injury. And he fought guys a lot bigger than him, at one point he jumped over the batamweight class, and still stopped only once due to injury. If you fight like he does, even in the amateurs if you don't have a good chin, you would have been stopped more than that, expecially against the highest caliber of amateurs in the world.
