Terence Crawford takes easy 1st defence..NOT!

[handsofstone]

I think Gamboa's probably the most overrated boxer in the world right now,iv'e seen him a few times now and have never been that impressed,he seems like a typical Cuban pro,has lived the sport all his life and by the time he defects,he's lost his hunger,which is understandable as iv'e seen clips of him driving about in Miami in his convertible etc so he's already a millionaire i pressume,it's a similar situation with Odlanier Solis,world class amateur,super talented but just doesnt have the desire and dedication to stay at the top

It's funny i think Cubans hate the pro game and i'd be surprised of any of the current pros watched boxing

Just because some has a nice car doesn't mean they have an awful lot of money; I'd have not imagined that Gamboa was a millionaire who felt he could lay back and take it easy. There are loads of Cubans living in Miami and he may be flavour of the month with some of the more successful ones.

I cant remember where i seen the piece on Gamboa but the premise was that he had a great life in Miami and it showed you him in the nice car,slow motion, with the music basking in the sun and the like,as you say it means nothing on his actual wealth,i think the story was maybe making the point that he came from poverty to where he is now so maybe it emphasised the flash persona to show the contrast??,

[Old bones Ian]

Crawford took alot of shots off Prescott early on in there fight, Gamboa might take advantage of this. Crawford seems to be a boxer that gets better the longer a fight goes on, so he'll be looking to take control that way.
A great match up this one.

[GreenLightning]

Crawford is facing a better opponent in his first defence than Burns has fought in his entire career.

Obviously not if Crawford wins

[JamieM]

When Gamboa turned pro if imagine he would have got a huge whack of money , he's also a massive name so sponsorships etc and I'm sure he's tied in with 50 cent who promotes him possibly? He'll be a millionaire, if he gets motivated it's a fight he can win v Crawford but just needs to land a bomb quickly as he's a bit chinny

[Datsue]

Crawford is facing a better opponent in his first defence than Burns has fought in his entire career.

Obviously not if Crawford wins

Uh... What?

Do you mean that if Crawford beats the former Olympic gold medallist & unbeaten umpteen-time world champion, Ricky Burns will magically be deemed to have fought someone better? How does that work exactly? How does a Crawford victory mean that Burns has faced anyone better than the Cuban?

If you didn't mean that, apologies, but your sentence either doesn't make sense or couldn't be more wrong.

[lefty]

Crawford is facing a better opponent in his first defence than Burns has fought in his entire career.

Obviously not if Crawford wins

Uh... What?

Do you mean that if Crawford beats the former Olympic gold medallist & unbeaten umpteen-time world champion, Ricky Burns will magically be deemed to have fought someone better? How does that work exactly? How does a Crawford victory mean that Burns has faced anyone better than the Cuban?

If you didn't mean that, apologies, but your sentence either doesn't make sense or couldn't be more wrong.

I have a feeling he might of meant if Gamboa wins. Could be wrong though.

[lefty]

When Gamboa turned pro if imagine he would have got a huge whack of money , he's also a massive name so sponsorships etc and I'm sure he's tied in with 50 cent who promotes him possibly? He'll be a millionaire, if he gets motivated it's a fight he can win v Crawford but just needs to land a bomb quickly as he's a bit chinny

Is he really?! Most people who arent boxing fans wouldnt have the faintest clue who he is. Particularily in America.

[Datsue]

I have a feeling he might of meant if Gamboa wins. Could be wrong though.

It still doesn't make any sense. Gamboa is still a better opponent than anyone on Ricky's resume, whether Crawford wins or loses.

[Shirow]

When Gamboa turned pro if imagine he would have got a huge whack of money , he's also a massive name so sponsorships etc and I'm sure he's tied in with 50 cent who promotes him possibly? He'll be a millionaire, if he gets motivated it's a fight he can win v Crawford but just needs to land a bomb quickly as he's a bit chinny

Is he really?! Most people who arent boxing fans wouldnt have the faintest clue who he is. Particularily in America.

Going a little off topic. There is a documentary from a year or 2 ago about Cuban boxers who defected. I haven't seen it but heard an interview with the director. Apparently escaping Cuba is the end objective and often the boxers don't care if they box again but the deal is if the people smugglers can get you out then you pay them back with your purses. I believe some boxers have signed a contract where the majority of their earnings for their entire career are paid to the facilitators of their defection just because they are desperate to get away.

Casamayor is penniless now after i think i read was $8M in career purses because he just never saw most of it. When you look at it from this angle it would explain the attitude of Cubans like Solis who just want to enjoy the freedom of the west and have to be persuaded to train and compete.

[Datsue]

Going a little off topic. There is a documentary from a year or 2 ago about Cuban boxers who defected. I haven't seen it but heard an interview with the director. Apparently escaping Cuba is the end objective and often the boxers don't care if they box again but the deal is if the people smugglers can get you out then you pay them back with your purses. I believe some boxers have signed a contract where the majority of their earnings for their entire career are paid to the facilitators of their defection just because they are desperate to get away.

Casamayor is penniless now after i think i read was $8M in career purses because he just never saw most of it. When you look at it from this angle it would explain the attitude of Cubans like Solis who just want to enjoy the freedom of the west and have to be persuaded to train and compete.

Great post mate.

[Crazyboy]

Crawford is facing a better opponent in his first defence than Burns has fought in his entire career.

Obviously not if Crawford wins

Uh... What?

Do you mean that if Crawford beats the former Olympic gold medallist & unbeaten umpteen-time world champion, Ricky Burns will magically be deemed to have fought someone better? How does that work exactly? How does a Crawford victory mean that Burns has faced anyone better than the Cuban?

If you didn't mean that, apologies, but your sentence either doesn't make sense or couldn't be more wrong.

What I think he means is... Burns has already fought Crawford who in himself is already a top class opponent.

[Datsue]

What I think he means is...

We should start a sweepstakes!

Burns has already fought Crawford who in himself is already a top class opponent.

Whilst I obviously acknowledge this in an ultimately logical pragmatism-not-idealism kinda way, it's a bit of a solipsism innit? Just 'cos Burns fought someone who beat him doesn't make his reign any better in retrospect, & if the fella who beat him immediately signed to fight a calibre of fighter that Burns never showed any inclination to face... that don't make the parade of half-gimmes & never-weres Burns did face any more formidable.

It's like congratulating Cleverly for getting smashed up by Kovalev, if Kovalev had got Stevenson in the ring for his first defence:

"Well done Nathan, all the bullshit that went before, all the hubris & hooplah, is now forgotten, because at last you fought the genuine #1 in your division, even if you were forced into it, didn't want to, wouldn't have fought him if you'd known he was any good & definitely would never in any way ever have gone out of your way to fight someone nearly as good as the bloke who eventually beat you turned out to be! Shame on Kovalev for not fighting someone who could beat him like brave brave Nate!"

[Crazyboy]

What I think he means is...

We should start a sweepstakes!

Burns has already fought Crawford who in himself is already a top class opponent.

Whilst I obviously acknowledge this in an ultimately logical pragmatism-not-idealism kinda way, it's a bit of a solipsism innit? Just 'cos Burns fought someone who beat him doesn't make his reign any better in retrospect, & if the fella who beat him immediately signed to fight a calibre of fighter that Burns never showed any inclination to face... that don't make the parade of half-gimmes & never-weres Burns did face any more formidable.

It's like congratulating Cleverly for getting smashed up by Kovalev, if Kovalev had got Stevenson in the ring for his first defence:

"Well done Nathan, all the bullshit that went before, all the hubris & hooplah, is now forgotten, because at last you fought the genuine #1 in your division, even if you were forced into it, didn't want to, wouldn't have fought him if you'd known he was any good & definitely would never in any way ever have gone out of your way to fight someone nearly as good as the bloke who eventually beat you turned out to be! Shame on Kovalev for not fighting someone who could beat him like brave brave Nate!"

When you put it like that, yeh that makes sense

[Boxerbeetle]

What I think he means is...

We should start a sweepstakes!

Burns has already fought Crawford who in himself is already a top class opponent.

Whilst I obviously acknowledge this in an ultimately logical pragmatism-not-idealism kinda way, it's a bit of a solipsism innit? Just 'cos Burns fought someone who beat him doesn't make his reign any better in retrospect, & if the fella who beat him immediately signed to fight a calibre of fighter that Burns never showed any inclination to face... that don't make the parade of half-gimmes & never-weres Burns did face any more formidable.

It's like congratulating Cleverly for getting smashed up by Kovalev, if Kovalev had got Stevenson in the ring for his first defence:

"Well done Nathan, all the bullshit that went before, all the hubris & hooplah, is now forgotten, because at last you fought the genuine #1 in your division, even if you were forced into it, didn't want to, wouldn't have fought him if you'd known he was any good & definitely would never in any way ever have gone out of your way to fight someone nearly as good as the bloke who eventually beat you turned out to be! Shame on Kovalev for not fighting someone who could beat him like brave brave Nate!"

I think he means that if Crawford beats Gamboa, it can't be said that Gamboa is a better opponent than anyone Burns has ever faced, as Crawford will therefore be better than Gamboa so Crawford will be the best opponent Burns has ever faced.

I actually made the initial point about Gamboa being better than anyone Burns had faced & this did cross my mind when typing it, but I thought it would get confusing if I tried to elaborate. In fact I'm a bit confused by it right now, it's like a paradox...

[Emmseegee]

Great fight but also cant take credit away from the fact that Burns fought Crawford in the first place. Are both fighters Top rank fighters? If so then theres why the fight has likely been so easy to make.
For british champions to fight big names they would probably need to go over there, give rematch clauses etc etc and have everything against them so although its not ideal, i can see why we dont end up with big fights as often as we would like.

[Final round]

Gamboa is with fiddy cent I thought. Bob Arum hates him after fornicating off the Rios fight

[Emmseegee]

Yes my apologies, can remember the cheesy footage of 50 cent with gamboa now.

[Old bones Ian]

Very interesting bit on Cuban boxers

http://espn.go.com/boxing/story/_/id/10 ... n-magazine

[TheLeprechaun]

is Gamboa the one that AAA was always being linked with? From somewhere like Puerto Rica? He was class as an A-grade fighter for years and years but all of his fights seemed to just get cancelled. Very slick. Someone knows who I'm on about..

you mean Joan Guzman

Does ne1bf follow boxing or just pop on here every now and again with wild guesses?

Doesn't watch fights either.

[MightyWarrior]

Weirdly both are 23-0 with 16 KOs