HBO’s Night of the Bulldog: Flashy Gamboa
May 18, 2008 by Michael Sedor
Filed under MMA-UFC
Yuriorkis Gamboa vs. Darling Jimenez
Before the fight has even started Max Kellerman calls Yuriorkis Gamboa a “Mike Tyson or Jack Dempsey in miniature.” With all the hullabaloo surrounding this guy we half expect him to levitate to the ring, turn water to wine, and transform Primm into Las Vegas. Can the hype be real?
Well, he’s awfully flashy. His hand speed and closing speed is astounding. He’s an unbridled ball of super-powered electricity. He’s freakishly athletic and talented. The problem is: he knows all of these things. He looks supremely bored by Jimenez. He fights with his hands down and goes wherever he wants. He has no respect for Jimenez and believes he can dodge and sidestep any punch he throws.
Gamboa is probably right. The skill chasm between these two makes the fight difficult to watch as does Gamboa’s foolish arrogance and complete lack of discipline.
Then Jimenez knocks him down! Oh my heavens! Vamos Darling! At this point Jimenez has forgotten the Mike Tyson, Roy Jones, and Jack Dempsey comparisons. Gamboa’s more like a Cuban Zab Judah. The bout is now watchable.
Amazingly, Yuriorkis still refuses to fight with his hands up. He still doesn’t believe he’s in any danger. He’s not going to get away with this cocksure attitude against a better class of fighter. Maybe he’ll even learn his lesson tonight, a lesson he’ll only understand if he loses.
Jimenez is digging in with a steady, professional, disciplined style landing where he can and trying to block Gamboa’s amazingly quick flurries. Hopefully he can sneak in another big blow.
In the seventh Gamboa throws Jimenez to the canvas twice with rudeness and classlessness. What will he do next to make me dislike him more? Is there anything he can do to make me like him?
His tenth round comes close as he begins with almost a minute and fifteen seconds worth of non-stop punching! Yuriorkis closes out the fight with the same energy and control with which he began. So it’s no surprise when he wins by a wide unanimous decision.
Nevertheless after this spotty debut in which Gamboa was simultaneously extremely hard working and very lazy it’s clear that the he’s-the-greatest-there-ever-will-be luster is gone. Gamboa was the pre-fight headliner but post-fight the broadcast’s highlights were the other two fighters: the bulldogs, Kirkland and Angulo.
Part One – HBO’s Night of the Bulldog: Ferocious Kirkland
Part Two- HBO’s Night of the Bulldog: Gutsy Angulo
Photo Source: Newscom.com
What most commentators regarding this bout fail to mention is that Mr. Seeger had a maximum 3-5 day notice of substitution for this bout. Mr. Seeger had absolutely no time to prepare mentally or physically for the boxing style that a Gamboa employs, or to study the videos. Again, his was a last minute sub situation when the scheduled boxer, Jose Rojas, backed out of the engagement. In my mind this makes Al Seeger even more courageous than he is, and has always been throughout his boxing career. This kid, maybe not a household name to some boxing fans, is a phenomenal athlete, and a world class boxer. His reach, his poetry of movement and his record of defeat by knockout of the majority of his world-class opponents speaks volumes for his talents. Go back and review Al Seeger, both as an amateur, and as a professional, and one would be unable to find anything to disqualify him from world-class status. The kid is a wonder, and a beauty to behold. The results of this bout for Al Seeger, while disappointing, are short-term, but I guarantee that he has learned a heck of a lot from the experience. Al never talks trash like many other boxers, is humble, a great man, and overall, a boxing professional, like the former greats. I cannot recall another like him. I have no doubt that the boxing world has not heard the last of this young fantastic boxer. Mr. Gamboa may have won this fight, but even in the results of this night’s engagement, Al Seeger is still a champ.