Before the Crawford fight iy seemd like the world was his oyster n it just never really worked out. Do you think he was good enough to be a great featherweight? Do you think he'd beat any great featherweights? If we ranked the most talented featherweights ever, where would he come for you? How would he do at feather today? If we take the versions of Gam and Loma who fought Salido, who'd win?
Some of the bloom already had come off the rose by then. When he fought Bud the Cyclone was already two divisions above where he looked the most special, and even in that weight class he was made to look mortal by Siri four years earlier. To say that Salido "exposed" him would be putting too fine a point on it, but it did show that he wasn't the generational talent with "Roy Jones writ small" potential that everyone had been thinking. Or rather, he was an unfortunate and frustrating mix of prime RJJ's athleticism with latter-career RJJ's penchant for getting caught with bigger stuff than either Roy's or Yuri's chins were built to handle. Gamboa was considered THE next p4p guy to snatch Mayweather's torch, pre-2010, by many.
Floyd told him to get Gamboa. Gamboa signed on expecting to be on Floyd's promotion. Floyd ditched 50. Gamboa got ****ed. Tried to get back with arum. Arum tried to meet him but apparently Gamboa didn't show up.
Man...he SHOULD have been greater than he turned out to be. Highly talented, just lacking the desire to be great IMO.
No, he never had it in him to be a great fighter IMO. You could just see how he responded to things, and the limitations he showed vs few elite fighters he faced. It wasn't meant to be, which is a shame because he was an insane athlete. In terms of athleticism, he's right up there with the greatest featherweights ever IMO, he just lacked what it took. Not saying he didn't have heart, because he definitely did. He showed a massive heart vs Davis, and considering the amount of times he got up, he showed he he had heart there too. In Floyd Patterson, kind of way. But you could see his style change as he started to step up his comp, because he couldn't get away with his all-out aggression which he had when he turned pro. No, I don't. Almost every great in history had it in them to shut him down and find his chin, and the ones who didn't, shouldn't really be called great. Right up there. Very very talented individual, whose dexterity, fluidity, agility and speed shouldn't be forgotten like it has. Extraordinarily fast hands, very smooth movement both with his feet and his head. The power might have left a little to be desired compared to the other featherweight freaks like Hamed or Pacquiao, but he could definitely out a guy away when he needed to. And in the Salido fight, he showed he had an extremely impressive gas-tank IMO. Look at the shots pour out of him in the final round. Although I feel like I should make the immediate distinction that the best and most talented are by no means the same thing. Gamboa isn't anywhere close to the best featherweights ever, and when I say most talented, I should probably rephrase to mean "most talented athletically". He'd definitely be an interesting addition to today's division. Navarrete and Lara both seen to have the style to beat him, with the relentless pressure and 'testing' style they subject opponents to, but I reckon neither were quite as good at it as Salido, and that both could fail to impose themselves on Gamboa. Russell Jr would make for one helluva blur. Both of them exchanging would be ridiculous. Warrington really looks to have the style to beat him, with the pressure he applies, but at the same time, he just doesn't impress me as much as Salido did. I tell you what, vs the four major players at the weight, he could 4-0 or 0-4, or anything in-between. How's that for sitting on the fence? I think Lomachenko would figure Gamboa's amateur-based style out quite quickly. We have to consider how he took apart Russel and Rigo once he handled their speed and style. Gamboa was a mix of both, but without a chin. I think Lomachenko stops him. Ultimately, Gamboa lacked the intangibles to be as great as the sum of his parts.
