Is Gamboa too strong for Juan Manuel Lopez? por Jim Dower

por **elhijodemarta** Jue 04 Feb 2010, 11:27 pm

Si ya alguien trajo este articulo aqui, lo siento. Pero me parece muy interesante y lo quiero compartir con los fanaticos del panel. Este comentarista ve a Gamboa barriendo hasta los lightweights.
Jim Dower escribe regularmente para boxingnews24 y como se ve ya agarró eso que anda : la "ciclón-manía".

Is Gamboa too strong for Juan Manuel Lopez?
January 25th, 2010
By Jim Dower:

If Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is thinking about matching World Boxing Association featherweight champion Yuriorkis Gamboa (17-0, 15 KO’s) and WBO featherweight champ Juan Manuel Lopez (28-0, 25 KO’s), Arum might be better off waiting a long time before he does this because the younger 26-year-old Lopez doesn’t appear ready for the kind of power and speed that Gamboa showed in dispatching Rogers Mtagwa in two rounds on Saturday night.

Gamboa was downright scary with his power shots that he was landing, and he seemed to be able to throw heavy shots even from close range without winding up much on the punches. All total, Gamboa knocked Mtagwa down three times during the short two rounds of the fight, and had him staggering in the first two minutes of action in the opening round.

In contrast, Lopez was lucky just to survive his 12 round bout with Mtagwa in October after getting hurt by Mtagwa in the 10th and taking a great deal of punishment from the Tanzanian fighter in both the 11th and 12th rounds. I know they say styles make fights, but Gamboa looks far too strong and fast for Lopez at this point.

That could change if Gamboa ages more and loses some of his reflexes. After all, fighters that depend on lightning fast reflexes to get by like Roy Jones Jr., for example, are much different fighters once they start losing their hand speed with aging. Gamboa could become vulnerable in three to five years, and at that point Lopez would have a much better chance at beating him if Lopez doesn’t slow down himself.

However, if you were to match Gamboa and Lopez right now against each other, I think the Gamboa that I saw on Saturday night would make easy work of Lopez and batter him around the canvas like rag doll. I don’t think it would even be close. Lopez looks too thin, too slow and not stocky enough to deal with a fast power puncher like Gamboa.

I liken Gamboa to being a featherweight version of Mike Tyson. That’s who he reminds me. He’s that powerful and fast with his shots. Tyson had the much chin, though, but as far as build, speed, power and aggression, Gamboa is like a miniature Tyson the way he’s ripping through his opposition since turning pro in 2007.

There isn’t anyone in the featherweight division that can contend with Gamboa now or in the foreseeable future. I see the division as being too weak for a fighter like him. Sadly, if Gamboa wants a real challenge, after he eventually destroys Lopez, he’ll have to move back up in weight to the super featherweight division so that he can go after fighters like Humberto Soto, Roman Martinez, Kevin Mitchell, Robert Guerrero and Takashi Uchiyama.

Those are good fighters, but I think Gamboa destroys all of them as well. Gamboa may not have any real opposition until he takes on a top lightweight like Edwin Valero, Antonio DeMarco or Ali Funeka. Gamboa will probably have a tough time beating those fighters because they would have a big size advantage over him, but he could surprise some people by carrying his power up in weight like Manny Pacquiao.