Anyone else think that Gamboas defense is underrated?

Discussion in 'World Boxing Forum' started by cardstars, May 19, 2008.


  1. cardstars

    cardstars Gamboa is GOD Full Member

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    ????

    When you take into account his offense (stamina), speed, reflexes, lateral movement, quick feet, etc I think his defense is being underrated by too many posters simply because he keeps his hands down too much. Lets not forget that most guys are only landing 25% of their punches on Yuri, so he must be doing something right :D . Would I like to see him keep his hands up more? Of course I would cause it makes me nervous when he drops them after throwing combos; but he generally moves himself out of position after throwing which in turn makes him hard to hit. Just because he isn't textbook doesn't mean his defense "sucks" imo
     
  2. huki

    huki huk huk ^_^;; Full Member

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    His defense has become underrated because Gamboa chose not to care about it in the Jiminez fight, since the punches were having no effect on him. He will improve and these people making ridiculous comparisons to Berto and Khan will be wrong like always.

    Gamboa looked like he just wanted to get an impressive KO and get the hell out of there. He was only focused on the KO and nothing else.
     
  3. elindiomonzon

    elindiomonzon Active Member Full Member

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    not underrated but rather flawed.
     
  4. Strike

    Strike Boxing Addict banned

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    No. I have watched 6 of his fights now and he is wide open in every one and gets tagged by guys who are not even on the same planet as him in terms of ability.
    The only fight where he looked decent in defence was against Mayo where he seemed to judge the distance well enough to just sway away from shots.

    He is incredible on the attack, but he is so eager to jump in with combos and so cocky that he is always going to get tagged and is an easy target for a good counter puncher.

    But he is the most exciting prospect out there now and it is just a shame he is not younger as I don't see him changing much now. He will be a world champion due to his ability but if he had been a pro at 21-22 and worked with a good coach I think defensive tweaking could have made him something truly special.

    As it is I don't think we will be talking about him as a rival to the likes of PBF in terms of all time placements.
     
  5. BigBone

    BigBone Boxing Addict Full Member

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    Simply put: he refused to use the textbook-type defense and since he's fighting bigger men than he used to fight back in the amateur days, the same kind of punches he moved away from with body and head movement could still reach him today...

    He's pretty impressive on the padworks, but I wouldn't say his defense is underrated - he doesn't even care about using it, which is a big problem.
     
  6. cardstars

    cardstars Gamboa is GOD Full Member

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    To be honest I thought that starting with Jiminez (being on HBO and all) he would keep his hands up. As Huki said though; he seemed to only be looking for the highlight reel KO. I'm REALLY curious to see his next fight (Rojas) and how he adjusts from the Jiminez fight. Not to mention what trainer he signs could be HUGE. He will be taking a lot of flack for dropping his hands so much which lead to the flash KD, so maybe he will keep them up more and be more cautious with Rojas.

    As far as ATG potential goes I doubt he will ever be on the same playing field as Mayweather. Its just too hard for him to do, even if he has an amazing resume, simply because he will be entering his prime soon and he only has 10 fights under his belt. Tough to get good fights with top opponents when your at such a high-risk, low-reward margin
     
  7. huki

    huki huk huk ^_^;; Full Member

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    He's in a great position though and he won't be "low reward" because unlike a guy like Guzman, he will have a ton of hype and exposure behind him. In the next 2-3 years, he could get wins over Guzman, Pac, JMM, Diaz, Linares, etc. under his belt. Some of those fighters will be old, but there will also be new fighters out there to improve his legacy against. To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised at all if he becomes greater than Mayweather. Mayweather is probably the GOAT at 130, but other than that, at 135+ he hasn't fought any elite fighters and didn't have almost any highly impressive dominant wins. He also lost a fight to Castillo (or won a very close decision if you want to argue that).

    Gamboa needs to fix some things, but IMO he has more potential than Mayweather and he seems like the type of fighter who cares a lot about proving his greateness by taking on the biggest challenges. We will see, maybe when he starts getting paid a lot of money his mentality will change.. hopefully not. But imagine if Gamboa turns out to have amazing, prime Pac-like stamina and the ability to throw 1,000 punches a fight. Imagine if he concentrates more on defense, starts throwing to the body more, and starts fighting more intelligently. Imagine if he proves to have a great chin. All of these things are very possible and having these attributes would make him a H2H monster 126-135.
     
  8. cardstars

    cardstars Gamboa is GOD Full Member

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    :happy :happy :happy :happy :happy :happy
    This would all be great, but do you really think Pac, JMM, and Guzman would fight him? I just don't see why they would want to. I think the three of them will be going after each other and bigger paydays with other well-known fighters. I hope im wrong, but I just don't see it. Also a fight with Chris John would be great for him and easily win-able, but I don't see John agreeing to it and I doubt Yuri goes to indonesia to get robbed (although I see Yuri ko'ing him).

    God I can't wait for Yuri to take on Valero though. I think he is going brutally KO him :bbb .

    And as far as his stamina goes....:yikes . That 10th round was insane. Whens the last time you saw someone pitching a shutout (or maybe -1) that just completely smothered their opponent in the last round? Jiminez couldn't even get a combo off. He is one of a kind
     
  9. Lampley

    Lampley Boxing Junkie banned

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    It's not that Gamboa gets tagged consistently, but that when he does get caught, he takes his opponent's best punch on the chin. That's what worries me. It's the same way with Paul Williams.

    Mayweather gets hit, even Whitaker got hit; but they don't take the other guy's best shot flush. Gamboa does, because he takes so many chances.

    He is a brilliant talent, but right now he's a classic case of having too much self-confidence.
     
  10. Hatesrats

    Hatesrats "I'm NOT Suprised..." Full Member

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    I agree..
    there is no denying Gamboa's a speed demon.
    but he will only get so far with his hands that low.

    once he step's up another class his chin will defo be checked again.
    Darling's Punching power was enough to put a doubt about Gamboa's chin IMO
     
  11. BlueApollo

    BlueApollo Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    When he's boxing and moving and has an extra split second to anticipate, his defense is unorthodox but highly effective. It's when he moves in to throw combos and pulls back with his hands down that he looks like a KTFO waiting to happen.

    The double edged sword with Gamboa right now is that his confidence in what he's doing out there is already becoming part of his professional signature. He might have to lose before he let's someone convince him there are changes he needs to make.
     
  12. BlueApollo

    BlueApollo Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    He actually looked sound against Edwards, not that he needed to be. You could see him making a conscious effort to keep his hands up.
     
  13. huki

    huki huk huk ^_^;; Full Member

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    Guzman, without any tiny bit of doubt would take on Gamboa. The guy is a true warrior who wants any opportunity to show his greatness and once Gamboa becomes a star in boxing, Guzman will love to challenge him. As for Pac.. who knows. If Pac loses some fights in the next two years (he most likely will) and Gamboa is P4P top 10 by then, Pac will want a big money comeback fight and Gamboa will be the guy to do it against. JMM will be way past it in 2 years IMO and I don't think the chance of them fighting are realistic. Juan Diaz is afraid of no challenges and is not the type of fighter that only takes money fights, he would fight Gamboa too. As for John, who really cares about a John fight? :lol: Ever since his bull**** decision over JMM, people make John seem like some near-elite when they probably have never even seen him fight. He's really just a B level safety-first, protected Indonesian boxer that will probably continue to hold his belt hostage. Valero's team will probably try to do everything possible not to put him in the ring with Gamboa.. but that's not a legacy improving fight anyways.

    Gamboa is in a great, great position and he will become a star very soon. He's a gold medalist and is getting hyped by HBO very early in his career. It's the opposite of a great talent like Guzman, who wasn't a star amateur and got zero hype by anybody for years and still continues to get severely underrated by the boxing media. Also, Guzman doesn't have Gamboa's "casual fan friendly" style. There's a good chance Gamboa could become the greatest 130 pounder of all time, it all depends on whether he fixes what's currently wrong with him or not.
     
  14. Sandmanl337

    Sandmanl337 Pactard Full Member

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    Underrated? No. He may be fast, but he keeps his hands low all the time and gets hit a lot..
     
  15. cardstars

    cardstars Gamboa is GOD Full Member

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