Date: Saturday, June 28, 2014
WBO Lightweight Championship Bout
Location: CenturyLink Center, Omaha, Nebraska, USA
Promoter: Top Rank
Supervisor: John Duggan
Referee: Genaro Rodriguez
Judges: Levi Martinez 78-72 | judge: Dennis Nelson 78-72 | judge: Robert Hecko 77-73
Results: Terence Crawford retained the WBO Lightweight Title by TKO on 9th. round against Yuriorkis Gamboa.
TV: USA HBO
OMAHA, NEB. (May 23, 2014) — Top Rank® announced today that undefeated Top-Five contenders MATT KOROBOV and JOSE UZCATEGUI would battle in a 10-round rumble in the co-main event to World Boxing Organization (WBO) lightweight champion TERENCE CRAWFORD’S world title defense homecoming against Cuban sensation and three-division world champion YURIORKIS GAMBOA. Korobov and Uzcategui will be battling for the vacant WBO Inter-Continental middleweight title. Both fights will be televised live from the CenturyLink Center in Omaha, Saturday, June 28, on HBO Boxing After Dark®, in its first-ever visit to Omaha, beginning at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT.
This exciting all-action doubleheader features four undefeated gladiators with a combined record of 91-0, 63 KOs.
Promoted by Top Rank, in association with SMS Promotions, PS4 and Tecate, remaining tickets to the Crawford vs. Gamboa world championship event, priced at $102, $52 and $27, can be purchased at the CenturyLink Center Omaha box office and all Ticketmaster outlets. To charge-by-phone call 800-745-3000. To order online, visit Ticketmaster.com.
Korobov (23-0, 13 KOs), a 2008 Russian Olympian and stellar amateur will be making his long-awaited HBO debut. Now based in St, Petersburg, Fla., Korobov, a six-year veteran of the pro ranks, enters this fight having won three of his last four fights by knockout, including a sixth-round stoppage of Emil Gonzalez on April 16. Korobov is currently world-rated No. 3 by the WBO.
Uzcategui (22-0, 18 KOs), a native of Venezuela who trains in Mexico, will be making his U.S. debut. A knockout artist who has stopped 10 of the last 11 opponents he has faced, he captured the WBO Latino middleweight title in March, knocking out David Lopez in the sixth round. He is currently world-rated No. 5 by the WBO.
Read more at http://www.eastsideboxing.com/2014/korobov-vs-uzcategui-added-to-crawford-uzcategui-title-card/#9YJmVM4DfyPF8Wee.99
Photo: Chris Farina/Top Rank
By Karl Freitag –
Undefeated world champions Terence Crawford and three-division champ Yuriorkis Gamboa, who share identical records of 23-0 with 16 KOs, today officially announced their June 28 clash for Crawford’s newly-won WBO lightweight title at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha, Nebraska. In an unusual press conference, Gamboa made his statement, then Crawford spoke. But rather than having things wrap up, Gamboa wanted to come back to the podium to rebut Crawford and the debate was on.
Yuriorkas Gamboa: I came here to prove to everyone, my critics and fans alike that I’m willing to fight Terrance in his own backyard so everyone can witness a great fight.
Terrance Crawford: It’s going to be a good fight. I know that. Gamboa is a truly incredible champion. I have nothing bad to to say about the man. The only thing I can say is he shouldn’t have took this fight.
Bob Arum: OK. This is usually for a debate but I’m willing to go along with it…a rebuttal from the challenger Yuriorkas Gamboa.
Yuriorkas Gamboa: I didn’t make any error in choosing this fight. Before you speak you’ve got to compare the records and look at my record versus yours. Just measure the caliber of fighters you fought versus the caliber of fighters I fought.
Terrance Crawford: One thing. You ain’t fought me yet.
Yuriorkas Gamboa: You’ve never fought an Olympic champion like I am and a three division world champion. You can’t say that.
Terrance Crawford: Hey. This ain’t amateurs. This is the professional game. You got a zero, but it’s going to be a loss.
Yuriorkas Gamboa: Exactly. I’m a three category world champion and what are you?
Terrance Crawford: I’m the champion. You’re the challenger.
Yuriorkas Gamboa: In the professional ranks you can’t say what I say. I’ve fought in three categories and been crowned world champion in three categories. You’ve only done it in one category.
Terrance Crawford: Interim don’t count. I’m the champion. You’re the challenger. You’re going to see June 28th.
Bob Arum: One thing that’s great about boxing. On June 28, it’ll all be decided. The fighters will decide who is the best.
http://www.fightnews.com/Boxing/debate-breaks-out-at-crawford-gamboa-press-conference-245205
OMAHA, NEB. – Undefeated world champions TERENCE CRAWFORD, the Pride of Omaha, and Cuban sensation YURIORKIS GAMBOA, who share identical 23-0 (16 KOs) professional ring records, will battle for Crawford’s newly-won World Boxing Organization (WBO) lightweight title, Saturday, June 28, at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha. This will be the first world championship fight Omaha has hosted in 42 years, when Joe Frazier successfully defended his heavyweight title against Nebraska’s-own Ron Stander in 1972. It is also a professional homecoming for Crawford, who has not fought in his home state since 2011. The fight will be televised live on HBO Boxing After Dark, in its first-ever visit to Omaha, beginning at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT.
http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&opt=printable&id=77615
Photo: Getty Images/googleimages/-
By Miguel Rivera –
Top Rank’s CEO Bob Arum, and Zanfer Promotions President Fernando Beltran, are discussing the possibility of a fight between Juan Manuel Marquez (55-7-1, 40KOs) and Mike Alvarado, which is being targeted for May 17th at The Forum in Los Angeles, California. The co-feature would see a lightweight bout between Mikey Garcia and Yuriorkis Gamboa. Marquez lost a twelve round split decision to WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley in October, and then a week later Alvarado (34-2, 23KOs) was stopped by Ruslan Provodnikov.
“A few minutes ago I just spoke with Fernando Beltran [who handles Marquez]. Juan Manuel Marquez, maybe he will go against Mike Alvarado. And then the winner? Although not officially, [the winner] would face the winner of the rematch between Pacquiao and Bradley. This is what might happen here. We are thinking about [doing that fight] at the new Forum in Los Angeles,” Arum stated to Carlos Narvaez.
http://www.boxingscene.com/marquez-alvarado-arum-beltran-discussing-5-17–74595
Image by: Ringmagazine on Twitter /
Tim Smith – NEW YORK – Mikey Garcia had hoped for dynamite, but he had to settle for dominance as he pounded out a lopsided 12-round unanimous decision over Juan Carlos Burgos to retain the WBO junior lightweight title at the Theater at Madison Square Garden.
Garcia looked completely unmarked after the fight. He said it was not the type of fight that he expected. He expected fireworks from a hungry challenger.
“He wasn’t engaging like I thought he was going to do,” Garcia said. “He might have felt my power and respected that. He might have decided to box and try to come out with a decision.”
Once Garcia (34-0, 28 knockouts) got his rhythm going, he just walked Burgos down and came away with a very easy decision.
Much of the electricity had been drained from The Theater by the time Garcia and Burgos got to the ring. The place had been charged up by several Polish fans who came cheer for Artur Szpilka, who was stopped on a 10th round TKO by Bryant Jennings in the co-feature.
It was going to be up to Garcia and Burgos to re-energize the place. As they settled into a tactical boxing match with few fireworks, that seemed like an uphill battle. Garcia’s slow burn style is not conducive to the kind of instantaneous combustion the Garden boxing crowd craves.
But Burgos (30-2-2, 20 KOs) threw a brief thrill into the fans when he pulled a page from the Rocky Martinez playbook, landing a solid shot on Garcia’s chin that buckled his knees and sent the champion sailing backwards. But Garcia didn’t hit the deck like he did against Martinez. This time he steadied himself before his backside or gloves could touch the canvas, sparing himself a knockout. As he did against Martinez, Garcia remained poised and came back firing.
“It was a left hook,” Garcia said. “I caught him with a good right hand and he came back with a left hook. He wobbled me a little bit, but I wasn’t hurt.”
Burgos tried to press his height advantage. But he found it difficult to get inside of Garcia’s tight defense to land anything telling after that shot to the chin that nearly decked Garcia in the second round. Meanwhile Garcia effectively used his jab as a range finder and landed his combinations with pinpoint accuracy. Garcia hurt Burgos in the third round with a body shot and that seemed to push Burgos into a more conservative mode.
“He probably felt my power and respected my power,” Garcia said. “I felt that as he was getting a little hurt he decided that he didn’t want to engage.”
By the seventh round Garcia was in full stalker mode, urged on by his brother and trainer, Robert. The constant pressure was draining Burgos and you could see him begin to wilt in the ring. Burgos punches had lost their snap and his feet were moving across the canvas as if there was lead in his shoes.
Entering the match, Garcia had called Burgos a dangerous fighter because the challenger from Tijuana, Mexico had come up short in his two previous world championship matches and had to deal with Garcia being considered one of the top boxers in the game. Burgos had fought to a draw against Martinez for the same title and in the same ring that he challenged Garcia on Saturday night. To add to the injury, Garcia had won a featherweight world title in the main event that night and went on to defeat Martinez by TKO for the junior lightweight title.
Garcia defused any danger that Burgos posed after that second round near knockdown. By the 10th round Burgos was as dangerous as a toothless tiger and in the end that world title had eluded him again.
“I feel good. We did a good job,” Burgos said. “I hurt him but he recovered well. He was prepared. I know I have to work harder. He has a lot of ability. He’s fast and strong. Luck was not with us tonight.”
Bob Arum, Garcia’s promoter at Top Rank, has an ambitious plan for Garcia, wanting to move him from 130 to 135 to 140 pounds and eventually up to 147 pounds to face Manny Pacquiao. Garcia said he is comfortable at 130 pounds – this was just his second match at the weight. And he probably should stay there for at least one more fight before considering moving up to lightweight.
Yuriorkis Gamboa made a cameo at the fight, even climbing into the ring after the fight with his promoter, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson to press for a match with Garci. Garcia-Gamboa is an attractive match at 130 pounds. Now it’s a matter of whether it makes dollars and sense.
“Gamboa knows what to do. Sit down at the table and negotiate and if all parties can come to an agreement, then good,” Garcia said. “He can put on a pair of gloves and we can finish it right now. But it’s yet to be determined.”
Photo gallery / Naoki Fukuda –
