Lopez, Gamboa win; pair likely to square off next
Bob Arum, Juan Manuel Lopez postfight comments
Cuba's Yuriorkis Gamboa trains in NY
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Training Day with Yuriorkis Gamboa
At the end, WBO super bantamweight champion Juan Manuel Lopez was barely holding on to his senses because of a furious late assault by Rogers Mtagwa. But the fact he was able to remain upright was enough for Lopez to hold on to his title by a unanimous decision last night at Madison Square Garden's WaMu theater.
Lopez (27-0, 24 KOs) is known as a knockout artist, and he was sharp in the early going, piling up a big lead. But Mtagwa (25-13-2, 18 KOs) found a reserve in the 11th and 12th rounds when he landed enough right hands to put Lopez in survival mode.
Ring announcer Michael Buffer mistakenly read judge Carlos Ortiz's card as a 116-116 score. In fact, it was 116-111. Steve Weisfeld (115-111) and Kevin Morgan (114-113) also gave the fight to Lopez. Promoter Bob Arum said it's possible his next fight will be against Yuriorkis Gamboa, who defended his WBA featherweight title with a technical knockout of Whyber Garcia at 58 seconds of the fourth round.
Gamboa (16-0, 14 KOs), who won 2004 Olympic gold for Cuba and defected two years later, has been a professional for only 30 months, and his rise has been rapid. He won the WBA featherweight title last April with a 10th-round TKO of Jose Rojas, and the fight against Garcia (22-7, 15 KOs) was his first defense.
The Panamanian challenger wisely tried to stay on the outside and make the champion come to him, so Gamboa played that game for a couple of rounds, settling in and finding his rhythm. His ring movement was elusive, but he also used a lot of elbows and forearms to move Garcia around in the clinches and create punching opportunities.
It was out of one of his lightning-quick dips that Gamboa came up and threw a left hook that ran straight into Garcia's chin, sending him plunging face-first to the canvas. It was almost surprising that Garcia got up, but when he did, Gamboa pinned him in the corner with a flurry that opened a spurting cut over the left eye and forced referee Steve Smoger to stop the fight.
"In the second round, I knew I was going to knock him out, but I couldn't finish him,'' Gamboa said. "The fight speaks for itself. I'm maturing. Winning by KO at the Garden, there's nothing better."
Considering he has only 16 pro fights, Gamboa was asked if he needs another warm-up before taking on Lopez, who wants to move up to the 126-pound division. The Cuban scoffed at the notion, saying, "I don't think Juan Manuel is better than me. I don't need no warm-up fights. I think I should be carrying the card. I'm the better fighter."
On this night, Gamboa had to take second billing, but the next time he and Lopez are on the same bill, they likely will be on equal footing against each other.
Duddy defeats Munoz
Coming off the first loss of his career in April, Irishman John Duddy (27-1, 17 KOs) scored a unanimous decision over Michie Munoz (21-4, 14 KOs) of Topeka, Kan.
