Will a new star be born in Gamboa if he beats/KO Rios impressively?

Though the fight isn't very high-profile, this is by far the largest risk Gamboa has ever taken. Even if Rios were to struggle with making 135, a dominant decision or knockout win would be unprecedented. Rios is hittable, but not easily hurt or discouraged. The two-division jump will be accentuated by the fact Rios is, at this stage, not a natural lightweight. Not only is the size difference notable, but Rios is one of the most competitive contenders in his own weight-class, and there's no guarantee Gamboa would beat him were they the same size.

In your opinion, would an emphatic win elevate Gamboa's career to real rising stardom? If not, how come? How would he rank after such a victory P4P? If he loses competitively, what does that do for either man's career?

Discuss.

 

Another question I though of that serves as kind of a measurement: How would you compare the potential rise in interest/popularity for Gamboa to that of Martinez after he starched Paul Williams? He seemed like the hottest thing boxing had seen in a while, and then fell out of relevance to a degree.

Would Gamboa fall short of, match, or exceed the hype Martinez got post-Williams 2?

 

It would be kind of tough to distinguish the two, wouldn't it? When I saw it lived, it looked less to me like the issue was that Rios was fatiguing (which he was), and more to me like Murray was tougher and savvier than anyone expected. Gamboa could make him look slow either way. How drained/sluggish would he have to look for the merit of the win to decrease so much? Even with Pacquiao-De La Hoya, objectively speaking, not many lightweights could have done what he did.

 

Oh right I forgot about that, good point. That seems fair!