By Jim Dower: Former IBF/WBA featherweight champion Yuriorkis Gamboa (26-1, 17 KOs) had to get up off the deck to defeat 28-year-old journeyman Rene Alvarado (24-8, 16 KOs) by a 10 round unanimous decision on Saturday night on HBO Boxing After Dark at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, New York. The judges scored the fight 97-92, 97-92 and 97-93.
(Photo Credit: Tom Hogan Photos/Golden Boy Promotions)
Alvarado knocked the 35-year-old Gamboa down in round 10 with a right to the head. Gamboa wasn’t hurt though. It was more of a situation of Gamboa getting hit when his legs were tangled with the Nicaraguan Alvarado.
Gamboa mainly landed pot shots in the fight, fighting at a very slow pace throughout. The boxing crowd at ringside frequently booed the lack of action between the two fighters. Alvarado looked like he was afraid to let his hands go because Gamboa was countering him when he would throw punches.
Alvarado finally came to life in round 7 in hurting the 2004 Cuban Olympic gold medalist Gamboa by a right hand to the jaw that turned his legs to jelly. Alvarado landed a number of additional right hands to the head of a hurt looking Gamboa, but he was unable to finish him off. It was a great round for Alvarado.
In rounds 8 and 9, neither fighter did much at all. Alvarado completely let Gamboa off the hook by failing to go after him to try and knock him out. The crowd continued to boo, as neither fighter showed any inclination to make a fight of it. Gamboa was understandably not taking any chances because he’s a counter puncher by nature, and he was coming off of a 2-year layoff. It looked like Gamboa didn’t want to take any chances of expending a lot of energy for fear of him gassing out.
Gamboa did have a nice mini-flurry that he threw at the start of round 9 that caused Alvarado to slip and fall into the canvas. It wasn’t ruled a knockdown due to Alvarado slipping. But the brief flurry of action from Gamboa gave a glimpse of what he’s capable of doing when he lets his hands go. 10 years ago, Gamboa fought with total energy in attacking his opponents. What we saw from Gamboa tonight was a much more economical fighter that was conserving his energy at all times. The hands speed was still there for Gamboa, but not the activity.
Tonight’s fight took place in the lightweight division. This is not a good weight class for Gamboa, because he doesn’t have the power or the chin to compete at the highest levels in this division. Gamboa would be better off trying to get back down to super featherweight or preferably the featherweight division. Gamboa would dominate if he could fight at featherweight again. However, Gamboa’s biggest problem is his inactivity with his boxing career.
The results tonight showed that he could still fight at a high level, but there’s not point if he can’t stay busy with his career. He’s no longer fighting often enough to take his career to the next level. It’s unfortunate because Gamboa has the kind of talent that would enable him to still be a major factor from featherweight to lightweight.
