TalkingBoxing Articles
Gamboa Deserves a Close Look from Fight Fans
THU January 31, ANTONIO ANDRES CARRIEDO - I love boxrec. I never became a baseball sabermetrician. There was a point in my life when I used to memorize baseball player stats and try to determine rankings of baseball players based on their stats, but I never took that next step into calculating WARP3, EqA or OPS+. Instead, I fell in love with boxrec and everything I could learn about boxers’ careers from it. I developed some crude standards for analysis of the fights boxrec holds in its database to determine the value of a boxer’s statistics/record. A lot of boxing prospects come along every year with gaudy KO and win streaks. Boxrec is the only tools I need in order to determine whether I should get excited about watching any of them fight for the first time.
I used boxrec to determine that Paul Williams was the guy to watch out for on the Jhonny Gonzalez-Fernando Montiel undercard. It convinced me to buy the tickets and make the two hour drive from Chula Vista to Carson. Boxrec helped me determine that Jorge Linares’ inclusion on the Bernard Hopkins-Winky Wright PPV undercard might make me feel satisfied with my $50 purchase. Those are just two of many occasions where boxrec helped me gain an accurate pulse for true up and comers.
First, I look at the opponents’ records. Early in a boxer’s career (within roughly their first 10 fights) if he’s fighting fighters with winning records and significantly more professional experience then that deserves notice. Early career KOs or lopsided decision wins over durable opponents who’ve gone 12 rounds in regional title fights count for extra points as well. Wins over former title challengers or titlists are like gold, especially within the first 20 fights of a young fighter’s career.
I take other factors into account. Percentage of rounds won. Total rounds fought and against what level of competition. Regional and world titles are also accounted for to varying degrees. It’s not mathematically consistent, but it’s a fairly accurate way to estimate how a fighter will react when he takes a step up in competition. It’s fascinating, especially when I’m trying to pass free time at work.
So, while doing some research for a blurb in an article I wrote last December concerning prospects who’ve not been pushed along quickly despite their obvious talent, I came across the record of unbeaten 2004 Olympic Gold Medallist Yuriorkis Gamboa. Gamboa defected from Cuba to Germany in December 2006 where he began his pro career in April 2007. Gamboa’s first opponent was 6-1. His second opponent was 7-0. His third, 40-11 including 2-6 in regional title bouts. Gamboa’s sixth opponent was a 25-1 fighter named Samuel Kebede, though Kebede’s lone loss came by 1st round KO at the hands of Scott Harrison in a WBO 126 lb. title bout. Gamboa knocked Kebede out in the 2nd round.
Thus far, Gamboa has fought eight times for a total of 21 rounds. His record stands at 8-0 (7 KO’s). He has three more fights lined up in the next 10 weeks. First on 2/8 he fights Humberto Toledo, 32-5 and coming off of a 1st round KO lost to stud 140 lb. prospect Lamont Peterson. Two weeks later Gamboa is slated to face WBA #12 ranked 130 lb. contender Johnnie Edwards, 13-1-1. Edwards is a durable guy who beat a come backing Freddie Norwood in his last fight, has been 12 rounds twice in his career and suffered his lone loss in a 10 round shutout against unbeaten 130 lb. prospect Elio Rojas. A mere seven weeks later Gamboa has a fight scheduled with Jose Rojas, 24-6. In his most recent fight, Rojas lost a title bid against WBA 126 lb. titlist Chris John by average scores of 9-3 with two knockdowns.
Granted Gamboa is not your average prospect. He’s already 26 and a former Gold Medalist. If he were born anywhere other than Cuba he’d likely have been fighting professionally for at least 5 or 6 years by now. That said, his activity rate and level of competition is astonishing. Should he remain unbeaten through the end of April, he will have completed his first full year as a professional with 11 wins with three coming against legitimate contenders in or around the 130 lb. weight class that Gamboa competes in. That just does not happen.
At this rate, we may not have reason to worry about Edwin Valero’s ability to gain medical clearance to fight in the US. Yuriorkis Gamboa is free to compete in the US all he wants and he seems very willing to compete as often as possible against very good competition. I could spend all day on boxrec. I love the information it feeds me.
175 lb Division Heating Up
Recent developments within the 175 lb. division offer proof that patience is a virtue. Many fans blasted former linear champion Antonio Tarver for his lowly level of competition in 2007. Others let the current linear champion Bernard Hopkins have it because of his inactivity last year. Well, now we have an April lineup chalk full of meaningful and intriguing 175 lb. fights. On the same April 12th card, Tarver will challenge IBF titlist Clinton Woods and WBC titlist Chad Dawson will defend against former linear champion Glen Johnson. The next weekend Hopkins will defend his crown against linear 168 lb. champion Joe Calzaghe, who will be moving up in weight to challenge for Hopkins’ title.
Former linear champion Roy Jones Jr. has also expressed interest in re-entering the title hunt at 175 following his recent conquest of Felix “Tito” Trinidad. Who said, 147 was the best division in boxing? 175 is about to test that theory for all its worth.
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