Ballroom at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City– Featherweight titlist, Yuriorkis Gamboa (20-0, 16 KOs) allowed Mexican challenger, Jorge Solis (40-3-2, 29 KOs), one round of thinking he was in the contest before turning up the speed and ending the contest via dominant fourth round stoppage on HBO’s World Championship Boxing.
Gamboa would send his opponent to the canvas five times in total (twice in the second, once in the third, and twice in the fourth) before the ref finally called an end to the contest.
Solis, as game as we was, simply could not match the speed and athleticism of Gamboa.
Prior to the contest, Gamboa forfeited his IBF featherweight title by refusing the organization’s mandatory same-day weigh-in. However, he still holds an WBA-recognized title belt.
The Boxing Tribune Story Behind the Story: It’s tough to see any featherweight being able to deal with Gamboa’s hand speed and athleticism. “El Ciclon de Guantánamo” has now established himself as THE fighter to beat at 126.
On the televised undercard, Miguel Angel “Mikey” Garcia (25-0, 21 KOs) outclassed and beat down Matt Remillard (23-1, 13 KOs).
The Connecticut native, Remillard, fought well throughout, but was simply not at the same level as Garcia.
After watching their fighter dropped twice in the ninth and again in the tenth, Remillard’s corner called an end to the contest prior to the eleventh round.
The Boxing Tribune Story Behind the Story: With this contest we saw what happens when an A+ club fighter meets an A+ world class prospect. Remillard was tough, but could not match up to Garcia in any area. As for Garcia, he’s the real deal, but as Yuriorkis Gamboa’s top ranked challenger, he has a big step coming to main stage, world class status.
Ekaterinburg, Russia– Making the first defense of his WBO middleweight title, Dmitry Pirog (18-0, 14 KOs), looked solid and professional against an opponent who should’ve been widely outclassed.
Argentina’s Javier Maciel (18-2, 12 KOs) was present and working, but was not able to do much– even against a Pirog who was, at times, just going through the motions.
Pirog, when he was working hard, was the same fighter that impressed and shocked the world by knocking out Daniel Jacobs last year. But for large chunks of the contest, Pirog was flat and unmotivated.
The judges scores were tighter than expected: 115-112, 115-111, 117-111. The Boxing Tribune scored the fight 117-110 for Pirog, who was deducted a point in the ninth for using his shoulder.
Other Noteworthy Fights–
(Heavyweight) Alexander Dimitrenko KO 12 Albert Sosnowski; (IBF Jr. Featherweight) Takalani Ndlovu UD 12 Steve Molitor; (IBF Flyweight) Moruti Mthalane TKO 5 Johnriel Casimero; (Jr. Welterweight) Cesar Cuenca UD 8 Juan Jose Dias; (Jr. Featherweight)) Teon Kennedy UD 12 Jorge Diaz; (Jr. Middleweight) Robert Frankel TKO 2 Adam Limon; (Heavyweight) Tommy Zbikowski UD 4 Caleb Grummet; (Welterweight) Jorge Paez Jr. UD 10 Jose Luis Castillo
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