Yuriorkis Gamboa Quits On Stool
By: Sean Crose
Yuriorkis Gamboa (26-1)looked to reignite interest in his somewhat stagnated career on Friday when he faced Robinson Castellanos (23-12) in front of ESPN cameras at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.
The ten round lightweight bout came during one of the biggest fight weekend’s of the year, as the Canelo-Chavez Jr megabout was going down in town around 24 hours later. It was, no doubt, Gamboa’s chance to get back in the limelight after a crushing loss to Bud Crawford nearly three years earlier.
Gamboa started in relaxed, confident form. Castellanos was in to win, but Gamboa clearly controlled the tempo.
What’s more, the second round was similar to the first. Gamboa slipped early in the third, then was dropped for real late in the round. Credit ringside analyst Teddy Atlas for sounding the warning bell on that one. He had been adamantly pointing out Gamboa’s weak spots since just after the opening bell had rung. He had also predicted Castellanos possibly giving Gamboa trouble.
Sure enough, Gamboa went down again in the fourth. He got up and survived the round, but heading into the middle of the fight, Gamboa certainly wasn’t looking good. He started uping the heat in the fifth, but it was clear Castellanos could drop – and possibly knock out – his man should the opportunity arise. Gamboa continued to throw shots in the sixth, but they were generally arm punches. In the seventh, however, Gamboa started to effect his opponent with power shots. It was clear that he could still carry the night, provided he fought well and consistently throughout the remainder of the bout.
Then, shockingly, Gamboa decided to quit rather than answer the bell for the eighth round. He could have won the fight, he didn’t even seem hurt, but Gamboa had decided enough was enough.
Still, no one knew if there was some damage the man was facing that couldn’t be seen at ringside or on a television screen. Regardless, is was a bad turn for a man whose career had once held such promise. It’s easy to write fighters like Gamboa off, but not always wise to. With that in mind, Gamboa’s career is certainly not in a great place at the moment.
Earlier in the evening, middleweight Yamaguchi Falcao (12-0) won a ten round decision over Morgan Fitch (18-0-1). Also, Featherweight Abraham Lopez (20-0-1) was stopped by Jesus M Rojas (24-1-2) in the eighth round of a scheduled ten rounder.