Lists

3 Fighters Terence Crawford Should Have on His Radar

Before the euphoric buzz of Terence “Bud” Crawford’s (24-0, 17 KOs) career-defining ninth-round knockout of former unified featherweight titlist and 2004 Olympic gold medalist, Yuriokis Gamboa (23-1, 16 KOs), transitions into it’s half-life underneath what has been an active summer for boxing; one can’t help but mull over what’s next for the young lightweight champ?

Yuriorkis Gamboa

CrawfordGamboa Weigh In - Will Hart2 Photo by Will Hart/HBO

Why the hell not?

Boxing fans should want to see if Terence Crawford and Yuriorkis Gamboa can replicate their first encounter–a bonafide barnburner and fight-of-the-year candidate, again. To Gamboa’s credit, he seemed dominant in the early rounds with blazing hand speed and footwork.

Gamboa showed the capability to win, but when Crawford adjusted in the middle rounds, Gamboa did not. The fight became incredibly entertaining because Gamboa was willing to go out on his shield. Unfortunately for him, that’s exactly how he went out. Afterwards, Gamboa took to Twitter to tell his fans that he tried his best, and with the heart and determination he showed, it’s impossible to question his sincerity.

There’s really not much to add in selling this matchup–we’ve seen it before. It sells itself in that respect. The question would be, does Gamboa want to give it another shot? He has already mentioned that he will campaign at junior lightweight, however that doesn’t translate to him avoiding a rematch with Crawford.

Gamboa should take a tune-up fight if considering a rematch with Crawford .The stretches of inactivity before his last fight and the fight previous to it showed a more vulnerable Gamboa than the phenom who took the featherweight division by storm . Gamboa has been saying that Mikey Garcia is who he’s considering for his next fight. So much for taking a soft touch while calibrating himself for bigger fights in the future, but that is a very respectable move considering his gritty performance in the Crawford scrap.

This matchup should still be considered a wild card for Crawford. Despite Crawford winning in dramatic fashion, the fact still remains that Gamboa controlled the earlier rounds of the fight. With a little fine tuning, the possibility exists for him to be capable of doing the same for 12 rounds.

If Gamboa should win a rematch, that would leave the door open for a possible trilogy between the two. It’s hard to see a downside, as long as each fight is as exciting and dramatic as the first.

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5

Comments
To Top