and that is why he took the fight versus gamboa. what? :blood http://www.boxingnews24.com/2014/06...-featherweight-not-a-lightweight/#more-178335
but remember size was only a small factor in this fight. Never mind the fact that gamboa hit him with everything but the kitchen sink in the first 4 rounds and the punches bounced off his face like rubber.
Don't forget that Gamboa actually ended up rocking Crawford pretty bad late in the fight. Gamboa is genuinely a power puncher, but he is in over his head at such a weight class. He needs to drop down in weight and fight smaller guys where his power will be a definite problem. Gamboa's chin however isn't the greatest. Crawford is a very skilled fighter, on top of the size advantage.
Gamboa landed that counter uppercut and put him on spagetti legs, but Crawford had great recovery skills and turned it aournd and got the KO himself. As for the size.......we all knew Gamboas size or his lack of defense or his inactivity made Crawford the favorite to win this..... What we didnt know was that Crawford proved to be a much better fighter than most of us, including his own fans expected. :think
Gamboa was having to get reckless just to make up for the height and reach difference...needs to drop back down in weight...and get back to his cuban basics...made so many mistakes.
I agree. It was Crawford's skill as a technician that won this fight. Size mattered little. I don't think Crawford got caught with anything he didn't see, save for maybe two or three shots. That's mainly why Gamboa couldn't drop him. We saw that Gamboa could hurt Crawford when he didn't see the punch, even not catching him fully flush, but the main problem was that Crawford saw most everything and by round 4 or 5, he could read Gamboa like a book, so Gamboa was no longer able to get in range to throw his shots. He was countered coming in every time. I will concede that Gamboa will do better going back down in weight, though, due to reach issues and he'd have more relative power.
That's exactly why Crawford by KO was an easy call. The bigger the size difference, the less margin for error there is for the smaller man. Gamboa didn't hit hard enough, and wasn't the most durable guy even at the lighter weights. Crawford was smart enough to know that and fought accordingly.
It wasn't just the height and reach difference; Gamboa fought knowing he had to be markedly better than Crawford to win rounds in Omaha. Any close round was going to go Crawford's way.
It was the right fight for TC....Gamboa was smaller but his defensive holes was the real reason he was unsuccessful in beating the Omaha native. It was a good fight but regardless of why TC sought after this fight.....Gamboa agreed. Men make their own decisions at the end of the day and live with those decisions. We should accept it for what it is and stop looking for excuses to help cope with the outcome.