Gamboa-Mtagwa: Can Yuri do any better than Juanma

By Peter Wells: After Juan Manuel Lopez was exposed but not beaten by unknown challenger Rogers Mtagwa, he now takes on another unbeaten hotshot; Yuriorkis Gamboa. The Cuban has a lot of talent and hasn’t got a huge amount of time to make a name out of himself, but it taking the fast course to world glory, and maybe Mtagwa will be the last piece in the puzzle to get his hands on a world title. His biggest link is with unbeaten Chris John the WBA Super Featherweight champion who is unbeaten in 45 fights two of those draws.

The problem for Gamboa is his chin, he is a great re-coverer but is easily floored and Mtagwa did wobble Lopez late on to give him a hard ride. The Cubans problem is rushing, and leaving his guard down, but he has plenty of power in those short arms. I do like both fighters, and Mtagwa is not a hard nut to crack as 13 other opponents would tell you, two of them could tell you how to knock him out, which Juanma found out, is very hard indeed. This is for the WBA Featherweight title and would be huge for Gamboa to take it with him, but there is a solid challenge ahead of him.

Surely we will find out of 23rd January if Gamboa can handle world class opposition, and what a test it is. Early on Yuri will be sharp, and will look in complete control. Gamboa will be prepared for a hard 12 rounds and should have all rounds to him by the half way stage. Then he will start having to work, Mtagwa will start to push him and give him some trouble late on. Gamboa will have his little surges in a final race for the finish with Yuri winning clearly on points losing probably 3 of the last 6 rounds. Don’t be surprised if Gamboa is floored but if he does he should recover to end on top.

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