What Yuriorkis Gamboa is doing right now has drawn the ire of fight fans around the world. In no-showing two straight press conferences and expressing no desire to proceed forward with his Lightweight title fight against Brandon Rios, many have labeled him a coward and a fraud, and that's as polite as one can get in the past couple of days. While I can't condone what he's done and back him 100%, I am backing his decision nonetheless. To be honest, I am on Gamboa's side.
To understand the state of present events, we need to take a step into the not too distant past and look at the state of Gamboa's career from 2009-2011. During that time, Juan Manuel Lopez and Gamboa were both being featured as Top Rank's future stars and had everything they needed to make themselves big time fighters. What really got the world turning was the possibility of the two fighting each other, and Top Rank played their career's to the tune of a fight that would never happen, instead using each other to help promote the other's fight; the Mayweather/Pacquiao approach if you will.
Gamboa and Lopez were on a collision course for however long, until Orlando Salido knocked the hell out of Lopez last March and effectively ruined Gamboa's chance for a big payday. Prior to that time, when we actually believed Top Rank was trying to make the fight, it was very clear that they were promoting Lopez as their heir-apparent to Miguel Cotto and using Gamboa as a teaser to boost interest in Lopez's fights. Lopez went on to fight in gimme's against the likes of Steven Luevano, Bernabe Concepcion, and Rafael Marquez, with each of those fights airing on either Showtime or HBO. Gamboa had to face off against high risk/low reward opponents, like Rogers Mtagwa and Johnathan Barrios, with the Barrios fight airing on Integrated Sports pay-per-view.
Instead of trying to build a fanbase for Gamboa by having him fight in Miami, where there is a heavy Cuban population, he was the fighter they would throw around to keep interest in their real asset in Lopez. I can bet you anything that even against their common opponents (Mtagwa and Salido), Lopez made more money than Gamboa did, probably by a longshot. At that time, there was chatter that perhaps Nonito Donaire would be moving up in the future to fight Lopez, which would've been a huge money fight considering their fan-bases, so Gamboa was already out of the picture.
Now when it comes to Rios, Gamboa called him out in an attempt to secure the payday that was taken out of his hands when Saldio cracked Lopez's chinny-chin-chin. There was no way that this kid, who just started showing up on the networks, was going to get the bigger share of the purse, especially after all the fights and exposure Gamboa has had over the past couple of years. When he saw the bout contract though, all he saw was the Lopez situation all over again.
Before we hop onto Rios, let's remember that Gamboa's original trainer, Ismael Salas, was so against the fight with Rios, he went on the record and said that the only way he'll win is if Rios is a zombie come fight night. Not wanting any roadblocks in the way for his money fight, Gamboa fired him and hired Emanuel Steward last October in a move that received mixed results. He was so intent on this fight that he dumped the man who trained him through the amateurs and pros and guided him to multiple world titles just so he can make that payday.
Rios represents the kind of fighter Top Rank likes to promote, a hard-fighting Latino fighter who makes exciting fights and can draw in his hometown. Lopez was a power-punching Puerto Rican who fought to large crowds on the east coast. Rios is the blood and guts Mexican fighter who fights in California and Vegas. Gamboa is a slick speedster who has dominated his opponents with ease, but has yet to have a major fight in what would be the closest to his hometown in Miami.
The risk he would be taking against Rios is a daunting one. Rios walks around 170 pounds when he's not fighting, and might be better off fighting at Welterweight, let alone Lightweight. Recall that Gamboa's career started at 130, but he moved down as he was getting put to the deck more times than one would have liked to see. Unless Rios is carted to the ring on a gurney by bunk-buddy Elie Seckbach and Robert Garcia uses a defibrillator and IV drip in-between rounds to keep him conscious in lieu of him not making weight, Gamboa will get beaten and probably badly.
At 30 years of age with a wife and two children, Gamboa's career may not have too many years left in them, as is the case for fighters who ply their trade in the lighter weight classes, and like Floyd Mayweather said, perhaps ill-advisedly, to Bob Costas, this stage of the game is about self-preservation and making money. Gamboa couldn't believe that despite the numerous network appearances he's had, the constant attention he's siphoned from being in Lopez's shadow, and his years of service at Top Rank, that this guy, who really just came onto the scene as far as network exposure, is getting the bigger check.
The frustration of the fight not happening is warranted, but don't blame Gamboa for it. He allegedly didn't even sign off on the contract to make the fight official. Though the counter-argument is that those involved said that Gamboa and Rios agreed to the fight, it appears they may have only agreed in principle. This is boxing, the business that is disguised as a sport, where fighters live and die off of written contracts.
This isn't the first time Top Rank has done this; it hasn't even been more than a year since it last happened. Remember the Kelly Pavlik/Daryl Cunningham disaster last year? Pavlik hadn't signed the contract and had no intention to do so, not for the money he was being paid. Pavlik/Cunningham was as official as the Easter Bunny, but Top Rank pretty much got the ball rolling without having both fighters sign off to make the fight a reality. You couldn't even say Pavlik pulled out of the fight. He would have had to sign for it to say he pulled out.
So again, we get another case of déjà vu as Gamboa was forwarded the bout contract and upon reading said contract, his response may have been something along this nifty quote from Scarface, "You know what? F**k you! How about that?" One can only imagine that is exactly what he was thinking as he took pictures of himself at the Mayweather Boxing Club in Las Vegas when he was supposed to be in Miami.
It is more accurate to say Gamboa and Rios would LIKE to fight each other as opposed to saying that they WILL fight each other; that's what we are missing out on in regards to the public outcry because no contract means no fight, regardless of who is fighting. What comes next is anybody's guess really, Rios will more than likely fight Ricardo Abril, who got into a physical confrontation with him at the Miami presser.
Believe it or not, I don't think Top Rank will punish Gamboa for this because this is a fight that needs to happen for them. Expect chatter to build up once more if Lopez bests Salido in their upcoming rematch this Saturday, setting the stage for Gamboa/Lopez at 130 now that neither fighter can safely make the Featherweight limit anymore. If anything, should Rios/Gamboa actually happen in the future, it will be a much bigger fight thanks to the heaps of controversy and negative press surrounding the fight now.
In the end, nobody has to like what has happened over the past few days, but let's at least be fair and UNDERSTAND the situation and blame those who are really responsible. If not, well, I do have my e-mail below for all your hate-mail, and I got all day.
Danny Howard can be reached for comments or questions at dhoward@fighthype.com, Facebook, or follow him on Twitter (@DBHOWARD126). Also don't miss an episode of FightHype Radio, the baddest two hours of boxing on the planet, starting at 8pm EST.