There has been a lot of speculation recently about Gamboa's next opponent, Cab, Rojas...But it looks like neither of those will work out. I'm kind of pissed at the promotors and managers and such who have ****ed this whole situation up.:fire:firenono There was all this talk about Lopez and Gamboa cleaning out the division before they fight each other, but everywhere we look, matchups are getting shut down. Yay...Bernabe Concepcion vs. Lopez,:happy, Yay...Gamboa vs. Jorge Solis:happy, Yayyy. :----(. Here's the latest on the situation from Dan Rafael: When Top Rank and HBO brass met a couple of months ago to lay out plans for a July 24 "Boxing After Dark" card, it was supposed to feature featherweight titlist Yuriorkis Gamboa against Celestino Caballero, with Humberto Soto defending his lightweight belt against overdue mandatory challenger Anthony Peterson in the opener. Helluva card -- and too good to be true, it turns out. So we're in for a downgrade. Gamboa and Top Rank don't really want to make a Caballero fight, so that's out the window. The next guy on the list was titlist Elio Rojas. But nobody found out if the fight was really doable. Turns out there are issues between Don King, Rojas' promoter, and the fighter's manager. So that's probably down the tubes also. Plan C is Jorge Solis, an interim titlist at junior lightweight who would move down, or featherweight titlist Orlando Salido. Not surprisingly, Top Rank, which promotes both, seems determined to keep the match in the family.
If it is not another world champ, it is bull****. I bet Lopez won't face Rafael Marquez... These two will continue fighting B level contenders until late 2011. They would have to face John, Caballero, Marquez as well.
I have no idea, I have no idea what Bobby boy over there at Top Rank is thinking. However, one upside could come out of this. Salido is the IBF champ. If Gamboa beats him, one of the guys who is trying to get a shot at that title is none other than the greatest p4p featherweight of our generation, Billy Dib. I would love to see Yuri knock Billy the **** out.:happy:happy
Bull****, He hasn't fought anybody, and Salido is a way step up for him and still is a C+ opponent. Concepcion is still better opponent than Salido so why put Gamboa vs Salido and not Lopez vs Concepcion that is a bigger risk, better opponent and in his prime.
The original doubleheader was a great looking card but it totally fell apart. I atleast was hoping Gamboa-Callabero would happen but thats gone to. In actuality, Salido isn't to bad of an opponent for Gamboa the problem is people want to see him in with Lopez, Callabero, Marquez, etc. So from that standpoint Salido or Solis are big letdowns. But for Gamboas 19th fight Salido is a decent opponent.
I don't know, I guess that I was just expecting a very competitive fight against either Caballero or Rojas. I was preparing for a battle and now its kind of a letdown. I agree with you, Solis is probably a better opponent than Concepcion, but I am looking for Gamboa's career to advance, not just compare him to Juanma. There is going to be a day when Gamboa destroys Juanma and then he doesn't have to worry about facing him "someday." Then it is his career that is on the line, and I would rather have him facing great, not just good, opposition. I don't think either are terrible opponents, or pushovers, either. I just watched most of Salido vs. Juanma Marquez and some of Pac vs. Solis, and I think both are rough, tough stereotypical Mexican fighters. They seem to have a decent amount of skill as well, Marquez was scrambling in his last round against Salido. However, it would be satisfying and helpful for Yuri's career if he had faced Caballero or Rojas, both of whom I believe are better opponents than Salido and Solis.
Its time for Gamboa to start building his legacy he shouldnt be wasting his time with bull**** fights against nobodies,i want to see him against John pr Juanma next.
By himself, nothing. But compared to going from fighting Caballero to fighting Rojas to fighting Solis, a bit of a step down.
