http://www.fighthype.com/pages/content11639.html

According to the interview on the front page, Brandon Rios is ready for a Gamboa fight (or any fight for that matter). As far as his weight is concerned, he's hired a nutritionist, and he also mentions that he's willing to wait a fight or two in order to land a fight with Gamboa. If it doesn't work out, then he's ready to move up and move forward with his caeer.

He also goes into the Victor Ortiz (just a little), then he also mentions a fight with Khan or Pacquiao in the near future (when asked about it).

Any thoughts on this bout? I'll share my thoughts later...

Rios will knock him out in 8

rios loses to all the fighters mentioned.

I gave this to Gamboa, by way of a close decision. Im not the biggest Gamboa fan in the world, and truthfully, Im not as sold on him as most are. I voted a close decision because I dont see him knocking Rios out, especially if he has t move up two weight classes just to make the fight happen. Im sure someone is willing to jump in and say, "Oh, see Gamboa walks around at this weight or that weight, so he can make the weight".

That's the truth, but simply making the weight, is different from making the weight and still being effective in the ring. In addition to moving up two weight classes, he still has to hurt a guy who is ready, willing, and able to take his punches...just to land his own. On top of that, no matter how fast Gamboa is, or how much he moves, at some point, he will HAVE to fight Rios.

Hitting and not getting hit, is going to be his plan, but he still has to be able to take some of Rios's shit, and for a guy (Rios) who's pretty good at cutting off the ring, we may see Gamboa moving more than we're used to. If he sticks to the gameplan, then he gets a close decision. If he takes too many chances, or takes one at the wrong time, then Rios will eventually eat him for lunch.

On top of that, we have to look at if Arum is even willing to make this fight happen. Rios and Gamboa are his future cash cows (so to speak), so putting them in there with each other right now, may be a bad idea. If anything, between Lopez and Gamboa, Lopez has shown his flaws, been beaten, and has lost a bit of buzz...so I could possibly see Arum throwing him (Lopez) in there with Rios, and if he loses...well, it wouldn't be his first one. If he gets past Salido impressively and convincingly, then the Gamboa fight still has some buzz to it...if not, then we may see a Lopez/Rios fight soon.

Bam Bam catches the Cyclone From Guantanamo in the late rounds and ends up as the Whirlpool From Guantanamo Bay.
Rios TKO in 10. You guys are vastly underestimating Rios' willpower and his power. He starved his self for 3 days and still fought for 12 rounds to punish Murray but still took him out. Gamboa has the edge in speed but eventually he will have to taste Rios' leather and Rios knows how to cut off the ring.

the only advantage rios has is that he's able to cut serious weight. so essentially...he's a bigger man who can take punches from littler men and dish out punishment in return. gamboa is too skilled and seasoned to lose to rios...even with the disadvantage in size. gamboa will outbox rios to a clear cut decision or late stoppage. cutting weight will eventually take its' toll on rios.

I'm picking Gamboa, obviously which weight the match is at is crucial. IMO, Gamboa's can handle Rios' aggression and could have more tricks up his sleeve than Rios does. That being said, I've only seen Rios fight once.

C'mon Cheesey...you've only seen Rios fight once? I thought a man from Mars could stream any fight...guess I was wrong

Ha!! Even though I'm from Mars I can't physically manipulate time (yet), so I can't spend all of my time watching boxing. I have to pay attention to the krispy kremes and sea hags too.

"Cyclone from Guantanamo...ends up as the Whirlpool from Guantanamo Bay,"....ha!

Sea hags need love too!

Yup.

God help me, Rios stops Gamboa unless he's zombified trying to make weight. Gamboa's old trainer didn't want him to take the fight because he thought the only way Gamboa would win right now is if Rios drained himself to make weight. That's probably the reason why he dumped him for Manny Steward. If it happens, Gamboa gets stopped in six.

That was my second guess. Im sure that as soon as he cuts the ring off and lands a few punches, we may see another side of Gamboa...maybe the Gamboa who's on the other side of dominating the fight.

Before i go on, full disclosure. I'm A huge Gamboa fan, even tried coining a new term "Gamboaster" over it....

Rios does have a really good chin, but its not indestructible. He looked out on his feet at times against Acosta, I would argue that Gamboa is more accurate, throws more often and from a wider variety of angles than Acosta. Gamboa is also a lot more poised than Miguel Acosta was. So i can definitely see Bam Bam eating a lot of Gamboa's shots. I also think Gamboa posesses a lot more power than Rios is likely to be expecting, what with the weight differential between em. However i'm not 100% that Gamboa hits hard enough to hurt him, 2 weight class diff HAS to count for something! However, Gamboa has shown the ability to stick to a gameplan and box his way to a decision, I think he can do that Rios with relative ease, if he decides to fight Rios (or Rios forces him to somehow) then it becomes interesting...

Rios may have been able to drain himself and take care of a guy like Murray, Gamboa is a good few levels above a fighter like Murray imo... If Rios is weakened in anyway by the weight loss, Gamboa will eat him alive!

Rios is a few inches taller and has like a 3 inch reach advantage, which isn't much, taking into account Gamboa's hand and foot speed advantage i'd say it evens out. I keep hearing about Rios' ability to cut off the ring, Gamboa was an Olympic gold medalist amateur, he knows how to move around the ring to combat that, and is quicker than Rios. So Rios should find it more difficult to corner Gamboa than he did with guys like Peterson, Antillion and Acosta. Also, if he does get trapped, I like Gamboa to catch Bam Bam coming in with some choice shots much like Acosta did, but if Gamboa manages to buzz Rios, he won't be let off the hook, Yuri can finish..

So yeah i think Gamboa wins, but i'm rather biased... Been a huge Gamboa fan ever since I discovered we share a birthday,

We must take into account that Rios is willing to take anybody's shots, not to mention the weight advantage that he already has (due to his current division), then he will have a weight advantage on fight night (around 154 lbs). Soooo, let's be logical about him being able to take Gamboa's shots and stop making Yuri out to be this world beater...give it some more time.

I just see Gamboa playing into the crowd after a while, and I definitely dont see him trading with Rios, so he may be the victim of his own crowd-pleasing style. His accuracy makes him look so powerful, and I wouldn't doubt that he has pop on his punches, but again, let's stop making him out to be this world-beater.

Rios does have a nutritionist now, and Im sure he will stalk Gamboa the whole time. Yuri may have had a great amateur career, but Im curious as to know how he will mentally deal with a guy who doesn't give a shit about being hit.

Ponce De Leon didn't seem to mind being hit. As i said, Gamboa can stick to a gameplan, so if he isn't hurting Rios, i know he has the temperment to just try and box his way to victory. I think he used to get affected by the crowd in previous fights, the last few he seemed a lot more composed. Seeing him box a whole fight (ws boring as hell tho!) showed he can keep his cool, so i don't see Rios' punch resistance getting Gamboa worried. If anything, it'd be the pressure that comes with that punch resistance. As i said, i reckon Yuri can be quick enough to evade Rios and nullify the pressure somewhat. This is why they fight the fights tho!

Since when did a willingness to eat shots become a desirable trait? Way I see it, he might be a bit too willing, anyone who fights like that is eventually gonna meet a guy who can just crack. Its not always the biggest guy either, I bet Shane never expected to get dropped by Manny, Shane's chin has been throughly tested with only Vernon Forrest (I think) previously dropping him. Then he gets tagged with one lil short left by Manny and he's "chilling on the couch" . Can Gamboa cause that in Rios? Unlikely, but def within the realms of possibility i'd say..

Although a huge biased Gamboa fan, this is the 1st pro match-up where i can even consider him losing... Rios is on sum Rocky Balboa shit...

The willingness to eat shots isn't a desirable trait, but a rather stupid and upperhand trait if you ask me. Again, I dont see Gamboa as this huge world beater type puncher, if anything, his accuracy makes him appear to be so powerful. Im not saying that he's a featherfist either, but he doesn't hit as hard you're making it seem.

Shane's chin has been tested, and as far as Pacquiao knocking him down...dont flatter yourself man. Pac caught Shane at an angle and his balance was off. Im not saying that the punch didn't hurt Shane, but he wasn't in all that great of a position to block it, especially if he was already backing up from a ugly lunging jab-thingy that Pacquiao threw before the left landed.

So before you start blurting out BS about Pacquiao dropping Mosley, you may want to watch it again. Hell, people act up about Pac nearly killing Hatton with one punch, but they seem to forget the other punches that landed before that. As I said, Gamboa has his hands full with Rios...and stop trying to cover it up by saying that this is the only fight that you'd consider him losing, please.

You might need to watch that Shane vs Manny fight again yo..

An angle?, Dude got hit with a short uppercut on the inside, as he was tryna back away. Legit knockdown and more to do with the power of the shot and that is was apparently unseen than the angle or Shane's balance imo. Shit, even Shane said so himself. (hardest shot he'd felt or something along those lines right?) If you still have doubts, watch how Shane decided to back pedal like his name was Khan, even though it must've hurt to be doing that with the shredded ass skin he had on his foot bottom! Shane, back pedalling? He was hurt by that shot, enough that he made sure he didn't get caught like that again, didn't do a Rios and "laugh through it" did he? How is pointing out that a small guy like Manny, dropped and hurt a bigger/solid chinned Shane "blurting out BS"?? You act like that didn't happen. I was cheering for Shane in that fight, even lost money and shit, so I KNOW that dude got dropped and it wasn't a "flash knockdown".
either... All had his own woman cursing him out during the fight for his timid reaction to being dropped!

I decided to mention that by way of debating your point that Rios is obviously bigger than Gamboa, and is used to taking shots from heavier guys. you made it sound like it's an impossibility for Gamboa to put a dent on Rios, i beg to differ and pulled the Shane vs Manny knockdown out my ass to illustrate the point. Made sense to me...

Personally, I think Gamboa's power has been somewhat underrated. I can recall reading on various forums, websites etc, how JuanMa Lopez is a powerful puncher. All the press on that kid is about his supposed power. So when i saw Mtagwa take his shots all night and come back swinging, then Gamboa go on to fully starch Mtagwa inside 2 rounds, it raised an eyebrow... You may be correct, it may just be the accuracy of the shot that is so devastating, Floyd used to get a lot of KOs early in his career based on that i think...

Wasn't tryna cover anything, If Gamboa lost this fight, it'd be a lot more expected than him losing to Ponce De Leon or someone right? I don't disagree, Gamboa does have his hands full with Rios, I just think he has more than enough ability, skills and experience to deal with what Rios brings. You apparently don't...

This is why they fight the fights...

No, YOU need to watch it again, "yo". Tell me where in the world a "short uppercut on the inside" landed, please tell me. There's no way I would've described the knockdown, had I not watched it before posting it.

When you can clear this up, then I will decide to read the rest of your post, if it's even worth reading. I left a video for you to back up your "short uppercut on the inside" theory...

Fair enough, short over hand left... You really gonna get picky over the TYPE of shot? That wasn't the original debate was it?? The point made was, smaller dude being able to crack/hurt a heavier guy who's used to taking harder shots. We were originally talking about Gamboa vs Rios, the rest of my post pertains to that...

You said "Pac caught Shane at an angle", well in that vid Pac comes in in a straight line, the only angle created was by Shane bending his neck tryna avoid the punches. You don't see me getting all petty and posting up a vid, refusing to read the rest of your post just because you said something that wasn't completely accurate... An what is it I got wrong, i said short uppercut on the inside, as opposed to short left hand on the inside (after the weird jab thing). Seriously, that's what you chose to focus on? smh...

Don't get all funky about it because you got the type of punch confused, seriously, whose fault is that? And yes, Pacquiao caught Shane at an angle because he was already pushed back out of wack by that lunging jab-thingy by Pac. I also said that the punch did hurt Shane, which tied into your point about a smaller guy being able to hurt a bigger guy.

Though Shane was "saying something without saying it" during his interview, I will give Pac credit for the knockdown. So, you want to learn the difference between certain punches, and stop playing damage control and making me out to be the antagonist. Besides, who brought up the Pac/Mosley fight anyway?

I bet you have the answer to that. Seeing as though it didn't go your way, I can understand why you are turning everything around on me and wondering why we aren't talking about Gamboa/Rios anymore.

I didn't get all funky about it, you did! all went and posted a vid to prove your point, lmao! My fault for calling the wrong punch, but as i said, that wasn't even the main thrust of the point, you know that...

Damage control? What the hell?? You really got a high opinion of yourself huh? Like that many people read your posts, i need to do damage control so as to protect my reputation, sorry the repuation of my on-screen name?!

I brought up the Pac/Mosley fight, have told you why I did so too. Why even say that? I'm not "wondering why we aren't talking about Gamboa/Rios anymore". I can read an thus know the reason, its because you got all excited about me incorrectly stating Mosely was dropped by a left uppercut and not a short straight left. I only briefly mentioned that knockdown to illustrate a point.

What is it that "didn't go my way" btw? Have I lost this debate? Don't see how, especially considering the fight has yet to happen (Gamboa/Rios incase u lost track). So no one has "lost" so to speak... Always on here tryna bully folk, you need to moderate yourself sometimes imo...

Bully folks? Seriously?! Well you would have to feel inferior at one point or another, in order to feel bullied...now wouldn't you? Looks like we're done here...

I didn't say I felt bullied, I said your always tryna bully folks... That's just me making an observation on the way you choose to respond to some folks' posts... You don't have to feel inferior to make that observation, just be observant and know how a bully acts..

I have no problem with people disagreeing etc, that's a debate. However I find the tone you decide to use uneccesarily condescending and rude sometimes. I came here giving my opinion on who wins out of Gamboa and Rios, you make a whole issue because in my explanation I called a punch wrongly?! Not that the type of punch was even that important, as the point pertained to the size of the people fighting, not the punch technique or choice. Joke thing is, you seemed to kinda agree with that point, so you just decided to make an issue for what exactly?

done here for real...

Well observe this...the next time you decide to go outside of the current subject (Gamboa/Rios) and bring up other stuff (Pacquiao/Mosley) to illustrate your point, then be sure you're prepared to be tested or questioned on it. Sounds like you didn't do well in that department.

You brought up the Mosley knockdown to explain how a smaller man can hurt a bigger man, or a man who has been hurt by bigger punchers. How was the punch not even important, when it was the shot that dropped Mosley and also helped to drive your point about how a smaller man can hurt a bigger man who has been hit by bigger guys/punchers?

If you haven't noticed, just because a topic starts out in a particular direction or attempts to drive a certain point, doesn't mean that it will ALWAYS stay directly on topic. Right now, if we opened a topic about who has the best knockout ratio between FMJ and MP in the WW division...just imagine how many directions that topic would go.

So, I suggest that the next time you decide to go outside of the subject to illustrate your point, just be prepared for whatever comes along with it. Truthfully, I did agree with your point and simply challenged you on the punch...trust me, had we had more "not so nice" posters around here like we used to, you would've caught hell for that amongst other things.

So please, dont start getting off topic talking about how Im condescending and such, because you've been challenged on your point and had a hard time explaining it (I guess). Instead of explaining it, you decided to downplay it and turn the situation around on me, not good. Trust me, I've been challenged around here plenty of times, it happens. Seriously, you're acting like Im giving you the 3rd degree...not true at all my man.

How was the punch not important? maybe because i didn't even focus on the punch in the first mention of the Manny/Shane example.

"he might be a bit too willing, anyone who fights like that is eventually gonna meet a guy who can just crack. Its not always the biggest guy either, I bet Shane never expected to get dropped by Manny, Shane's chin has been throughly tested with only Vernon Forrest (I think) previously dropping him. Then he gets tagged with one lil short left by Manny and he's "chilling on the couch" . Can Gamboa cause that in Rios? Unlikely, but def within the realms of possibility i'd say.."

Was just tryna say, Rios being able to take shots and seemingly love it, doesn't mean he can just walk through Gamboa's shots, he could quite feasibly end up "chilling on the couch" too imo. I think I made that point well enough and went on to do so again in other posts in response to you. Considering that my point was that, and NOT what punch (or whether or not its thrown from an angle etc) needs to be landed on a tough chinned guy to hurt him, i 'd say I did do well in that department actually .

UNLESS, your main gripe was that Shane was never actually hurt by that shot, and it was just a flash knockdown/off balance type event. I'd disagree with that, and even you said "Im not saying that the punch didn't hurt Shane". So really, what does it matter about the type of punch? If your main gripe was me telling you to watch the fight again and then getting that punch detail wrong, you could've just said that and continued the debate. Instead you say your not gonna bother reading or responding to the rest of my post. Now that's perfectly fine too, but in the rest of my post I went on to explain my point. I didn't downplay anything, I just agreed with you that i got that detail wrong and looked to continue the rest of the debate as i felt that point and the others I made were still valid.

I mean you kept saying "please don't make him out to be some world beater", when all i had actually said was, I think Gamboa KOing Rios was "within the realms of possibility", like having that opinion is akin to considering dude a "world beater"?! Then u went on about me "blurting out BS" when all i'd said was Manny dropped Shane, and he's a lot smaller.

"Instead of explaining it, you decided to downplay it and turn the situation around on me, not good. Trust me, I've been challenged around here plenty of times, it happens."

I think the amount of responses and their content i put on here should sufficiently prove that i actually did explain it, only downplayed YOUR focus on the minor (and it is minor imo) mistake I made, which is prob why you feel i tried to "turn the situation around" on you. I wasn't tryna do that, just explaining myself, since it seemed to be required...

Anyway, this has gone on rather long and fully strayed off the OP. Plus since it was started Cotto vs Floyd was confirmed and possibly Manny vs Bradley, this Gamboa/Rios fight has yet to be confirmed (to my knowledge). I'm a leave this till it has, i did hear Todd Duboef mention something about April 14th tho...

Sounds like we're almost making the same point, so I will leave it at that. I believe this fight is closer to being made, than we actually know. In the meantime, I will show you how to quote your own posts and mine as well, so I dont have to see repetition or my own words being italicized...it kinda freaks me out.

On another note, I will stick with my prediction that Rios will (somehow, some way) have Gamboa up shit creek, or have him in a quite compromising situation. I also expect you to stick to your prediction as well...that's what makes it fun.

With everything that you've posted, it proves to me that you're not a complete idiot, or an idiot at all for that matter ...you can hold your own with the info that you put out there, even though I challenged you a bit and you kept afloat. In the meantime, let's just smoke to this shit and know that neither of us are completely thrown off

The problem with Gamboa is he spent a lot of time in the amateurs. Pro has its differences, some very big. The size is too much, gamboas only shot is hopping on the bike kahn style.

Btw of course mosley would say that's the hardest shot he ever took how else would he cover his ass after getting put down by a smaller guy.