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Gamboa Dropped, Dizzy & Done
By William Trillo
Photos: Marlene Marquez
Lightweight Yuriorkis Gamboa (26-2,17 KO’s) was supposed
showcase his skills on Cinco De Mayo in a prelim to big show
on Saturday night. Instead he fell (take term literally) to
Robinson Castellanos (24-12,14 KO’s) who dropped Gamboa
twice before pummeling him in round seven and forcing the
Cuban to quit on his stool. This was not the way Golden Boy
wanted their weekend to start .
Gamboa started the fight looking confident and in control,
but Castellanos, who has never fought outside of the
Featherweight ranks stayed calm and surveyed the landscape.
What he saw was a clear opening for his straight right hand
which he landed repeatedly. A solid blow to the chin dropped
Gamboa and from that point on he was on shaky legs.
A few rounds later the same right hand did it’s work again
and Castellanos watched Gamboa kiss the deck one more time.
The fight calmed down for a moment and it looked like maybe
Gamboa could salvage a victory even though he had been
dropped twice. Scorecards would later reveal that Gamboa was
drastically behind and was in need of a huge miracle to pull
this fight out.
Then the fateful seventh round got under way and Gamboa was
getting beaten to the punch over and over again. Gamboa made
it through the round on his feet but it was clear he did not
have an answer for the ever-present right hand of
Castellanos
The next thing we knew the corner was taken the tape off
Gamboa’s gloves and the ref was waving the fight off. There
would be no eighth round. Whatever the reason was for
Gamboa’s early departure, the tone was set for the big
weekend and it’s not the one the promoters had in mind.
“I am super happy and excited to get such a big win,” said
Castellanos. “I won against a revered Olympian, and this win
puts my career back on track after my last fight. This win
is the opportunity that I needed, and it’s because of the
incredible team around me.”
“I felt super dizzy, and felt like I couldn’t go on,” said
Gamboa. “We trained hard.”
Featherweight Abraham Lopez (22-1-1,15 KO’s) was sent to the
canvas three times by Jesus M Rojas (25-1-2,18 KO’s) before
the ref finally brought a merciful halt to the battle for
the WBA-NABA featherweight title.
Down early Lopez arose and fought on like a true warrior. He
had his moments but the heavy handed Rojas just had too much
dynamite in his gloves.
By round five Lopez was bloodied and seemingly unable to
stop the onslaught. After a barrage of punches that dropped
Lopez to his hands and knees in round eight it didn’t look
good. Lopez got up to give it one more shot but after a
series of pinpoint blows to the chin the ref rightfully
stopped the bout at the 1:47 mark of round 8.
“It’s going to be about three years since I’ve fought in the
U.S.,” said Rojas. “This win is the opportunity to be on the
global stage, and take on world champions. I promised my
father that I would become a world champion, and even though
he is not with me anymore I carry on our dream. I hope that
by the end of the year, I am competing for an interim title
or even a world championship.”
“It’s tough to swallow, I’m still processing it, but it
happens,” said Lopez. “After this, I know I’m going to go
back to the drawing board and start training hard again."
Featherweight Horacio Garcia (32-2-1,23 KO’s) takes a close
majority decision over Fernando Vargas (32-12-3,21 KO’s).
Final scores read 77-75, 78-76 and 76-76 to give Garcia a
razor thin decision.
Super Featherweight Carlos Morales (16-1-3,6 KO’s) took a
hard fought split decision over Cesar Alan Valenzuela
(14-5-1,5 KO’s) in a tough and bloody eight round scrap.
Morales made the most of his boxing skill to have judges
score the fight 58-56 twice while one judge saw Valenzulea
in the driver’s seat with a score of 58-56. If it’s up to me
I have Morales sign on the dotted line for a rematch with
Charles Huerta for a Belasco Theatre summertime bash. I’m no
matchmaker but that bout would fill the theatre to the
rafters.
Bantamweight Oscar Negrete (16-0,6 KO’s) needed but a few
rounds to settle in and figure out the style of late
substitute southpaw Victor Ruiz (22-7,15 KO’s) but once he
did it was smooth sailing for the undefeated fighter. Ruiz
was a tough and game fighter but he just was not on the same
level as Negrete who looks ready to take the next step up in
his career. Final scores read 80-72 across the board all in
favor of Negrete.
Super Middleweight Alexis Salazar (15-3,6 KO’s) and Evan
Torres (6-3,5 KO’s) were nip and tuck over 6 rounds as each
had their moments. It was so close that even the judges
couldn’t agree on what they saw. In the end Salazar was
given the nod with scores of 58-56 twice with Torres taking
a lone scorecard of 58-56.
Super Lightweight Vergil Ortiz (5-0,5 KO’s) kept his KO
ratio at 100% as he dismantled Angel Sarinana (7-6-2,3 KO’s)
inside of three rounds. Ortiz was dropping huge overhand
rights on Sarinana early and it’s a wonder the tough fighter
did not go down. But it was a sneaky right uppercut that did
the final damage in round three. That set Sainana down. He
rose to his feet but the ref didn’t like what he saw and
halted the bout at the 1:44 mark giving Ortiz an impressive
TKO on his ledger.
“I saw him get hurt in the first round when I ‘fake-jabbed’
him to the body with a hook,” said Vergil. “Since that
moment, I was just looking for the opportunity to get the
knockout, but he was a tough guy and was able to make it
through. In the third round, I saw him lose his guard, and I
landed my uppercut that sent him to the floor. I think after
this, I’m ready to increase my rounds. I think I am ready to
take on some tougher opponents.”
Middleweight Yamaguchi Falcao (13-0,16 KO’s) kicked off the
Las Vegas Cinco De Mayo festivities by pitching a shutout
over Morgan Fitch (18-1-1,8 KO’s) over 10 rounds. Final
scores read 100-90 on all three judges scorecards.
“It’s been five months since I’ve been in the ring from my
last fight. I had a lot of trouble adjusting and finding my
rhythm, “ said Falcao. “It’s a journey, and I’m glad I got
the win, but if I want to reach my goal of fighting the big
time fighters I have to improve everywhere.”
“I don’t know what happened in there,” said Fitch. “I just
know that I could have done better and been more serious in
there. I’m at a loss of words.”
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