Name | Yuriorkis Gamboa |
---|
Realname | Yuriorkis Gamboa Toledano |
---|
Nickname | El Ciclon de Guantánamo |
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Weight | Featherweight |
---|
Height | |
---|
Nationality | Cuban |
---|
Birth date | December 23, 1981 |
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Birth place | Guantánamo |
---|
Style | orthodox |
---|
Total | 20 |
---|
Wins | 20 |
---|
Losses | 0 |
---|
Draws | 0 |
---|
Ko | 16 |
---|
}}
Yuriorkis Gamboa Toledano (born December 23, 1981) is a
Cuban professional boxer who, as an
amateur boxer, won an
Olympic gold medal in the
flyweight division at the
2004 Summer Olympics and the current Unified IBF and WBA Featherweight champion. Gamboa's younger brother is fellow professional boxer Yoelvis Gamboa.
Amateur highlights
Four-time Cuban national champion
2003 Pan American Games gold medalist
2004 Olympic gold medalists
2005 World Amateur Boxing Championships bronze medalist
2006 Central American and Caribbean Games bronze medalist
2006 World Cup champion
Gamboa's 2004 Olympic Boxing results were:
Round of 32 - Defeated Igor Samoilenco of Moldava – PTS (46-33)
Round of 16 - Defeated Somjit Jongjohor of Thailand – PTS (26-21)
Quarterfinals - Defeated Georgy Balakshin of Russia – PTS (26-18)
Semifinals - Defeated Rustamhodza Rahimov of Germany – PTS (20-11)
Gold Medal Match - Defeated Jérôme Thomas of France – PTS (38-23)
Defection
While training in Venezuela, Gamboa, along with Cuban teammates
Odlanier Solis and
Yan Barthelemy snuck out of camp and found their way to Colombia and eventually to Germany, where they applied for visas to enter the United States. Before defecting, he had sold his Olympic gold medal to support his family.
Professional career
Gamboa made his
professional boxing debut on April 27, 2007, in
Hamburg, Germany against Alexan Manvelyan. Gamboa put Manvelyan on the canvas in the third round and beat up his foe throughout the fight for the
unanimous decision victory. Two months later, he defeated Araik Sachbazjan by fourth round
technical knockout.
After winning his next four fights, Gamboa made his
United States debut on October 30, 2007, at the
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in
Hollywood, Florida against Adailton De Jesus. De Jesus was dropped to the canvas halfway through the first round. A Gamboa slip in the fourth round was ruled a knockdown by the referee. Gamboa's relentless pressure eventually forced a stoppage in the sixth and final round.
Gamboa fought Gilberto Luque on January 5, 2008, at Bally's Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Gamboa sent his opponent to the canvas less than 30 seconds into first round with a left hand. After two more knockdowns the referee stopped the fight. On February 22, 2008 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, he made his American television debut against Johnnie Edwards. Gamboa knocked Edwards down in the first 30 seconds of the fight after connecting with a left hand to the head. Edwards got up, but was met with left-hand punches from Gamboa ending with two consecutive right hands that knocked Edwards down for the second and final time as the referee moved in and halted the fight in round one and won the vacant NABF Super Featherweight title.
On May 17, 2008, at Buffalo Bill's Star Arena in Primm, Nevada, Gamboa fought Darling Jimenez. Gamboa started off well in the first three rounds of the fight, swarming Jimenez and hitting him with punches over and over. Gamboa looked flustered in the fourth round and began showing signs of fatigue. He got careless and was knocked down by a right hand behind the ear from Jimenez. Gamboa got up and finished the fight strong, winning by unanimous decision and claiming the vacant WBC International Super Featherweight title. After the fight, Gamboa’s promoter Ahmet Öner fired his trainer Osmiri Fernandez, replacing him with Ismeal Salas. On July 18, 2008, stepping down to Featherweight, Gamboa scored a first-round technical knockout victory over Al Seeger to win the vacant WBO NABO Featherweight title in a fight that took place at Buffalo Bill's Star Arena in Primm, Nevada. A left hook to the body set up a right hand that landed across Seeger's face, causing him to collapse backwards flat onto the canvas. The referee stepped over Seeger without bothering to count, officially stopping the bout.
On October 5, 2008, Gamboa stepped up in class, yet again, and fought Marcos Ramirez, a Kansas City Featherweight boasting an undefeated 25-0 record in Temecula, California. Gamboa exhibited amazing hand speed and quick combination punching in the first round before he was dropped by Ramirez. Gamboa quickly came to his feet and resumed fighting until the bell rang to signify the end of the round. In the second round, Gamboa picked up where he left off and knocked Ramirez down with a fast right uppercut, followed by another combination. Ramirez let the referee administer the eight count before rising to his feet. Gamboa then finished the fight by pressuring Ramirez into the ropes and landing a left hook to the body, followed by a right uppercut to the jaw. The referee stopped the fight, although it seemed like his count seemed too quick and Ramirez was back on his feet by the count of ten. With the win Gamboa's record improved to 12–0 (10 KOs). Gamboa's next fight took place at Buffalo Bill's Star Arena in Primm, Nevada on January 9, 2009 against Roger Gonzalez. Gamboa used quick combinations from the beginning of the third round to relentlessly attack Gonzalez. Gamboa began his assault after going down during the second round, after absorbing a sneaky right hand by Gonzalez. The referee halted the one-sided bout with 48 seconds remaining after Gonzalez sustained a barrage of punches to the head. Gamboa led 89–82 on one judge's scorecard and 89–83 on the other two judges' cards through nine rounds.
Fast KO Against Walter Estrada
On February 20, 2009, Gamboa fought Walter Estrada at
The University Center at Nova Southeastern University. Gamboa knocked out Estrada with a left hook to the body followed by a right hand to the face 25 seconds into the fight.
Fight Against Jose Rojas
On April 17, 2009 Gamboa stoped Jose Rojas via 10th-round TKO to win the Interim
WBA Featherweight title.
Fight Against Whyber Garcia
On October 10, 2009 Gamboa stopped Whyber Garcia in the fourth round to win the
WBA Featherweight title.
Fight Against Rogers Mtagwa
On January 23, 2010, at the WaMu Theater in Madison Square Garden in New York City, WBA "regular" featherweight champion Yuriorkis Gamboa (17–0, 15 KOs) destroyed
Rogers Mtagwa (26-14-2, 18KOs) in two rounds.
Gamboa had a very dominating first round. He buzzed Mtagwa several times from several angles and scored a knockdown in the final ten seconds with a counter hook. He continued the damage in the second round, battering Mtagwa and sending him down two more times before the fight was stopped.
Fight Against Jonathan Victor Barros
On March 27, 2010 at Hamburg Germany Gamboa dominated Argentinian boxer Jonathan Victor Barros in twelve rounds to retain the WBA Featherweight title with a unanimous decision.
Fight Against Salido
On September 11, 2010 Gamboa fought
Orlando Salido to unify the WBA and
IBF Featherweight titles with the result being Gamboa winning by unanimous decision. Salido knocked down Gamboa in the eighth round. Gamboa knocked Salido down in the 12th round, but was docked two points for hitting Salido in the back of his head while Salido was down. With this win Gamboa became the first Cuban boxer to hold the IBF world title since the organization's inception.
Fight Against Solis
On March 26, 2011 Gamboa (19-0-0 prior to the fight) fought
Jorge Solis (40-2-2 prior to the fight) to defend his
World Boxing Association (WBA)
Featherweight Title. Although the Fight was originally pacted to set under dispute both of Gamboa's
World Boxing Association (WBA) and
International Boxing Federation (IBF)
Featherweight tittles at the moment, it was early in the day of the fight after Gamboa had missed a mandatory re-weighing procedure established by the
International Boxing Federation (IBF) that his chance to defend it was anulated as welll as Solis's chance to claim it in case he had defeated Gamboa.
The Fight only lasted four rounds as Gamboa after having fought a relative conservative first round decided to control the pace of the fight sending Solis to the floor a total of five times and causing referee David Fields to stop the fight giving Gamboa the victory by TKO just after Gamboa had connected several unanswered punches as Solis looked hurt against the ropes. Solis, unable to keep up with Gamboa's speed looked frustrated as well as distant from being the Boxer that at a time was able to keep up with
Manny Pacquiao for eight rounds. With the win Gamboa claimed his 20th victory with no defeats continuing to impress in his quest to fight the best boxers in his division. While still on the ring short after the fight Gamboa was interviewed, a moment that Gamboa took advantage of to express his awareness and support towards the victims of Japan's latest
earthquake and
Tsunami. Gamboa also took the opportunity to proclaim his desire to fight higher caliber
featherweight boxers such as Indonesian
Chris John and puertorican
Juan Manuel Lopez who was attending the fight as a spectator and decided to come up to the ring and proclaim his desire for a possible fight with Gamboa as he also made the observation that it was a business decision to be taken by their shared promoter
Bob Arum. Both
Juan Manuel Lopez and Gamboa displayed a true sportsmanship conduct as they forecasted a possible fight between them in the future. On the other hand solis had mostly complements in regard of Gamboa's boxing ability and talent claiming that Gamboa's power punches are something he had never seen before in any of his previous fights. Solis also went on to shortly compare Gamboa's punches with Pacquiao's favoring Pacquio in terms of amount of punches but giving the edge to Gamboa in terms of power. Solis also made a short comment claiming that Gamboa's only defect is that he would hit opponents in the back of the neck while in the short distance.
Professional Record
{| style='font-size: 85%; text-align: left;' class='wikitable sortable' width='99%'
|-
!style='border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3'|Result
!style='border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3'|Record
!style='border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3'|
Opponent
!style='border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3'|
Date
!style='border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3'|
Result
!style='border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3'|
Time
!style='border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3'|
Location
!style='border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3'|
Notes
|-align=center
|
|align='center'|20-0
|
Daniel Ponce de León
|
|align='center'| 12
|align='center'|
|
Boardwalk Hall,
Atlantic City, New Jersey,
USA
|
|-align=center
|Win
|align='center'|20-0
|
Jorge Solis
|
|align='center'|
TKO 4
|align='center'|1:31
|
Boardwalk Hall,
Atlantic City, New Jersey,
USA
|
WBA World and vacant
IBF Featherweight Titles
|-align=center
|Win
|align='center'|19-0
|
Orlando Salido
|
|align='center'|UD 12
|align='center'|3:00
|
Palms Casino Resort,
Las Vegas, Nevada,
USA
|Defended
WBA World Title and Won
IBF Featherweight Title
|-align=center
|Win
|align='center'|18-0
| Jonathan Victor Barros
|
|align='center'|UD 12
|align='center'|3:00
|
Hamburg,
Germany
|Defended
WBA Featherweight Title
|-align=center
|Win
|align='center'|17-0
|
Rogers Mtagwa
|
|align='center'|KO 2
|align='center'|2:35
|
New York City, New York,
USA
|Defended
WBA Featherweight Title
|-align=center
|Win
|align='center'|16-0
| Whyber Garcia
|
|align='center'|TKO 4
|align='center'|0:58
|
New York City, New York,
USA
| Wins
WBA Featherweight Title
|-align=center
|Win
|align='center'|15-0
| Jose Rojas
|
|align='center'|TKO 10
|align='center'|1:31
|
Primm, Nevada,
USA
|Wins Interim
WBA Featherweight Title
|-align=center
|Win
|align='center'|14-0
| Walter Estrada
|
|align='center'|KO 1
|align='center'|0:35
|
Fort Lauderdale, Florida,
USA
|
|-
|-align=center
|Win
|align='center'|13-0
| Roger Gonzalez
|
|align='center'|TKO 10
|align='center'|2:12
|
Primm, Nevada,
USA
|
|-
|-align=center
|Win
|align='center'|12-0
|
Marcos Ramirez
|
|align='center'|KO 2
|align='center'|1:41
|
Temecula, California,
USA
|
|-
|-align=center
|Win
|align='center'|11-0
|
Al Seeger
|
|align='center'|TKO 1
|align='center'|2:30
|
Primm, Nevada,
USA
|Wins vacant
WBO NABO Featherweight title
|-
|-align=center
|Win
|align='center'|10-0
|
Darling Jimenez
|
|align='center'|UD 10
|align='center'|3:00
|
Atlantic City, New Jersey,
USA
| Wins vacant
WBC International
Super Featherweight title
|-
|-align=center
|Win
|align='center'|9-0
| Johnnie Edwards
|
|align='center'|TKO 1
|align='center'|1:34
|
Fort Lauderdale, Florida,
USA
|Wins vacant
NABF Super Featherweight title
|-align=center
|Win
|align='center'|8-0
| Gilberto Luque
|
|align='center'|TKO 1
|align='center'|1:54
|
Atlantic City, New Jersey,
USA
|
|-
|-align=center
|Win
|align='center'|7-0
|
Adailton de Jesus
|
|align='center'|TKO 6
|align='center'|0:35
|
Hollywood, Florida,
USA
|
|-
|-align=center
|Win
|align='center'|6-0
| Samuel Kebede
|
|align='center'|TKO 2
|align='center'|2:11
|
Berlin, Germany
|
|-
|-align=center
|Win
|align='center'|5-0
| Nestor Hugo Paniagua
|
|align='center'|KO 1
|align='center'|1:05
|
Lübeck,
Schleswig-Holstein,
Germany
|
|-
|-align=center
|Win
|align='center'|4-0
| Thomas Hengstberger
|
|align='center'|TKO 1
|align='center'|1:04
|
Berlin, Germany
|
|-
|-align=center
|Win
|align='center'|3-0
| Joel Mayo
|
|align='center'|TKO 2
|align='center'|0:35
|
Hamburg, Germany
|
|-
|-align=center
|Win
|align='center'|2-0
| Araik Sachbazjan
|
|align='center'|TKO 3
|align='center'|
|
Ankara, Turkey
|
|-
|-align=center
|Win
|align='center'|1-0
| Alexan Manvelyan
|
|align='center'|UD 4
|align='center'|3:00
|
Hamburg, Germany
|
|-
|}
References
External links
Yuriorkis Gamboa's Official Site
Amateur record
{{s-bef| before=Chris John
| as=Champion}}
{{S-ttl| title=WBA Featherweight Champion |
years=June 27, 2009 – September 11, 2010 Regular Title until July 14, 2010 Promoted}}
|-
{{S-ttl| title=WBA Featherweight ChampionUnified Title |
years= September 11, 2010 – June 11, 2011 Stripped}}
|-
Category:1981 births
Category:Living people
Category:Cuban people of Black African descent
Category:Boxers at the 2003 Pan American Games
Category:Boxers at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Category:Olympic gold medalists for Cuba
Category:Olympic boxers of Cuba
Category:Featherweight boxers
Category:Olympic medalists in boxing
Category:Pan American Games competitors for Cuba
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pl:Yuriorkis Gamboa
ru:Гамбоа, Юриоркис
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