I've been racking my brain thinking of fights where a slow/ponderous and sloppy fighter has beaten a speed demon with a massive punch but a weak chin. Such matches seem to be one sided and obvious in conclusion on paper, but boxing doesn't always work that way. Sometimes the sloppy fighter does everything "wrong" and therefore is able to catch the faster, more technical fighter. Vivan Harris was hot **** at one time. Some touted him as a future P4P. Hard hitting, explosive. Very fast. Carlos Maussa, one of the slowest fighters EVER managed to upset him. He got to that vulnerable chin and that was that. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Another example is Barkley vs Hearns. A sloppy, wild fighter against a picture perfect technican with frightening power. Difference is, Barkley had a great chin... Hearns was decent at best. I see this as a big test for Gamboa and a very interesting fight.
Oh, but those weren't Cuban! Jokes aside, you have some good points but this is going to be completely different. Gamboa, besides having the fastest hands in boxing, great KO power and astonishing athleticism, also has an immense super successful amateur career. He is not Olympic Champion and World Amateur Champion for nothing! :bbb A lot of people think that Gamboa has a weak chin and that's not true. Out of his " 5 so called official knockdowns " 2 are ilegit, one against De Jesus ( a clear push/slip ) and the other against Ramirez ( a clear elbow ). The other 3 have been him mostly being out of balance, he has never ever been hurt nor I have seen his legs wabbling. If you see the Salido knockdown, he hit Gamboa hard and clean and Gamboa mostly went down not because of the force of the punch but because he swung wildly right after he got hit and lost his balance. He placed a glove in the floor, got up in a second with a big smile in his face. A hurt fighter doesn't react like that, he was very fresh and so were hiss legs. That very same right hand from Salido put Lopez down! Gamboa has a good chin, don't get it confused with his flash/out of balance knockdowns! Gamboa by TKO in less than 6 rounds. Ponce doesn't have the speed and the skills to hang in there with El Ciclón de Guantánamo!
Not this time Ponce De Leon is in over his head in this fight, this is just a name and a ko for Gamboas resume. Ponce De Leon is not the guy that is going to upset Gamboa, Ponce is way to slow you will see saturday Gambo will have his way and look real good.
Randall Bailey vs. Juan Urango is another one. Andrade-Tsypko might qualify as well. Maybe PDL-Seeger. Still, those guys aren't similar at all to Gamboa. I also echo the sentiment that Gamboa's chin is merely average and not bad, but that his poor footwork led to most of his knockdowns.
ponce de leon is powerfull, but he's very crude, and has very little boxing ability. its not just about having the power, you've got to have the skills to get into range and time the big shots, that, in my opinion, de leon wont be able to do.
Good examples so far guys. I'm not picking Ponce over Gamboa, the style clash here is intriguing to me however.
Forrest/Mayorga comes to mind as well. Technical, sharp guys like Forrest feased on fighters like Mosley. He knew what to expect and was sharp, fast and powerful enough to successfully counter and throw back. I always thought his undoing against Mayorga was that he was so unorthodox, that being textbook might of in a way been a disadvantage. What do you do when someones doing everything against the grain, you know?
If a wild man no defense like juanma kneegal lopez can KO Ponce, imagine what a gold medalist will do to him.
