Joan Guzman - Yuriorkis Gamboa

[Taeth]

This fight would be interesting, but at this point I think Guzman wins this... Gamboa is too technically flawed right now to beat Guzman. Gamboa is faster, stronger, hits harder, but he loops a lot of punches whihc Guzman won't have trouble defending, and though Guzman isn't exactly the textbook offensive fighter, Gamboa leaves his chin wide open for counters.

As for Guzman using footwork, I just don't see it, he usually is slick stays inside, and counters his opponent like James Toney. Gamboa can fight both going forwards and going backwards, people forget he is an amazing amateur fighter that definitely has the edge in footwork in this fight. That being said for the reasons I mentioned above Gamboa's clear physical advantages won't make up for his lack of finese against another good athlete in Guzman...

[amat]

Watch Guzman's footwork versus Barrios when he had the hurt hand and had to use his feet for most of the fight. Or watch versus Fernando Beltran where he uses a lot of footwork. Also, even when he doesn't move his feet a lot he still uses his feet to position himself for angles. He doesn't use it much but that doesn't mean he doesn't have it.

And I wouldn't automatically assume Gamboa is faster in the hands or feet, there is no way to tell unless they are in the ring against one another but whoever has the advantage it isn't by much.

[Taeth]

Watch Guzman's footwork versus Barrios when he had the hurt hand and had to use his feet for most of the fight. Or watch versus Fernando Beltran where he uses a lot of footwork. Also, even when he doesn't move his feet a lot he still uses his feet to position himself for angles. He doesn't use it much but that doesn't mean he doesn't have it.

And I wouldn't automatically assume Gamboa is faster in the hands or feet, there is no way to tell unless they are in the ring against one another but whoever has the advantage it isn't by much.

Don't get me wrong, Guzman is fast, but he is not in Gamboa's league speedwise. Gamboa is quite clearly faster, especially in handspeed.