Yuriorkis Gamboa

Gamboa (center) in 2011
Personal information
Nickname(s)	El Ciclon de Guantánamo ("The Cyclone from Guantánamo")
Born	Yuriorkis Gamboa Toledano (1981-12-23)23 December 1981 (age 43) Guantánamo, Cuba
Height	5 ft4+1⁄2 in (164 cm)
Weight	Featherweight Super featherweight Lightweight
Boxing career
Reach	65 in (165 cm)
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	35
Wins	30
Win by KO	18
Losses	5
Medal record Men'samateur boxing Representing Cuba Olympic Games 2004 Athens Flyweight World Championships 2005 Mianyang Featherweight World Cup 2005 Moscow Featherweight 2006 Baku Featherweight Pan American Games 2003 Santo Domingo Flyweight Central American and Caribbean Games 2006 Cartagena Featherweight Goodwill Games 2001 Brisbane Light flyweight

Yuriorkis Gamboa Toledano (born 23 December 1981) is a Cubanprofessional boxer. He held theWorld Boxing Association (WBA)featherweight title (Regular version) from 2009 to 2011, and theInternational Boxing Federation (IBF) featherweight title from 2010 to 2011. As anamateur, he won a gold medal in theflyweight division at the2004 Olympics, and a bronze in the featherweight division at the2005 World Championships.

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• Four-time Cuban national champion
• 2003 Pan American Games gold medalist
• 2004 Olympic gold medalists
• 2005 World Amateur Boxing Championships bronze medalist
• 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games bronze medalist
• 2006 World Cup champion

Gamboa's2004 Olympic Boxing results were:^[1]

• Round of 32 – DefeatedIgor Samoilenco of Moldava – PTS (46–33)
• Round of 16 – DefeatedSomjit Jongjohor of Thailand – PTS (26–21)
• Quarterfinals – DefeatedGeorgy Balakshin of Russia – PTS (26–18)
• Semifinals – DefeatedRustamhodza Rahimov of Germany – PTS (20–11)
• Gold Medal Match – DefeatedJérôme Thomas of France – PTS (38–23)

While training inVenezuela, Gamboa, along with Cuban teammatesOdlanier Solís andYan Bartelemí, snuck out of camp and found their way toColombia and eventually to Germany, where they applied for visas to enter the United States.^[2] Before defecting, he had sold his Olympic gold medal to support his family.^[3]

Gamboa made hisprofessional boxing debut on 27 April 2007, inHamburg, Germany against Alexan Manvelyan.^[4] He prepared for his pro debut and his next seven fights with technical specialist Manny Masson. Gamboa put Manvelyan on the canvas in the third round and won viaunanimous decision victory. Two months later, he defeatedAraik Sachbazjan when Sachbazjan retired before the beginning of round four.

After winning his first four fights in Germany, Gamboa made his United States debut on 30 October 2007, at theSeminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino inHollywood, Florida, against Adailton De Jesus, who was dropped to the canvas halfway through the first round. A Gamboa slip in the fourth round was ruled a knockdown by the referee. Gamboa's relentless pressure eventually forced a stoppage in the sixth and final round.^[5]

Gamboa fought Gilberto Luque on 5 January 2008, atBally's Hotel & Casino inAtlantic City, New Jersey. Gamboa sent his opponent to the canvas less than 30 seconds into first round with a left hand. After two more knockdowns, the referee stopped the fight.^[6] On 22 February 2008, inFort Lauderdale, Florida, he made his American television debut against Johnnie Edwards. Gamboa knocked Edwards down in the first 30 seconds of the fight after connecting with a left hand to the head. Edwards got up, but was met with left-hand punches from Gamboa, ending with two consecutive right hands that knocked Edwards down for the second and final time as the referee moved in and halted the fight in round one. Gamboa won the vacantWBC-NABFsuper featherweight title.^[7]

On 17 May 2008, atBuffalo Bill's Star Arena inPrimm, Nevada, Gamboa foughtDarling Jimenez. Gamboa started off well in the first three rounds of the fight, swarming Jimenez and hitting him with punches over and over but got careless and was knocked down by a right hand behind the ear from Jimenez. Gamboa got up and finished the fight strong, winning by unanimous decision and claiming the vacant WBC International super featherweight title.^[8] After the fight, Gamboa's promoter Ahmet Öner fired Gamboa's trainer Osmiri Fernandez, replacing him with Ismeal Salas.^[9] On 18 July 2008, stepping down tofeatherweight, Gamboa scored a first-roundtechnical knockout (TKO) victory overAl Seeger to win the vacantWBO-NABO featherweight title at Buffalo Bill's Star Arena. A lefthook to the body set up a right hand that landed across Seeger's face, causing him to collapse backwards flat onto the canvas. The referee stepped over Seeger without bothering to count, officially stopping the bout.^[10]

On 5 October 2008, Gamboa stepped up in class and foughtMarcos Ramirez, aKansas City featherweight inTemecula, California. Gamboa exhibited amazing hand speed and quick combination punching in the first round before he was dropped by Ramirez. Gamboa quickly came to his feet and resumed fighting until the bell rang to signify the end of the round. In the second round, Gamboa picked up where he left off and knocked Ramirez down with a fast right uppercut, followed by another combination. Ramirez let the referee administer the eight count before rising to his feet. Gamboa then finished the fight by pressuring Ramirez into the ropes and landing a left hook to the body, followed by a right uppercut to the jaw.^[11] Gamboa's next fight took place at Buffalo Bill's Star Arena on 9 January 2009 against Roger Gonzalez. Gamboa used quick combinations from the beginning of the third round to relentlessly attack Gonzalez. Gamboa began his assault after going down during the second round, after absorbing a sneaky right hand by Gonzalez.^{[original research?]} The referee halted the one-sided bout with 48 seconds remaining after Gonzalez sustained a barrage of punches to the head. Gamboa led 89–82 on one judge's scorecard and 89–83 on the other two judges' cards through nine rounds.^[12]

On 20 February 2009, Gamboa foughtWalter Estrada atThe University Center at Nova Southeastern University. Gamboa knocked out Estrada with a left hook to the body followed by a right hand to the face 25 seconds into the fight.^{[citation needed]}

On 17 April 2009 Gamboa stopped Jose Rojas via tenth-round TKO to win theWBAinterim featherweight title.^[13] On 10 October 2009 Gamboa stopped Whyber Garcia in the fourth round to win the WBA featherweight title.^[14]

On 23 January 2010, at the WaMu Theater inMadison Square Garden, he defeatedRogers Mtagwa in two rounds. Gamboa buzzed Mtagwa several times from several angles and scored a knockdown in the final ten seconds with a counter hook. He continued the damage in the second round, battering Mtagwa and sending him down two more times before the fight was stopped. On 27 March 2010 at Hamburg, Germany Gamboa dominated Argentinian boxerJonathan Victor Barros in twelve rounds to retain the WBA featherweight title with a unanimous decision.^{[citation needed]}

On 11 September 2010, Gamboa foughtTheRing No. 3 ranked featherweightOrlando Salido to unify the WBA andIBF featherweight titles with the result being Gamboa winning by unanimous decision. Salido knocked down Gamboa in the eighth round. Gamboa knocked Salido down twice in the twelfth round, but was docked two points for hitting Salido in the back of his head while Salido was down. With this win Gamboa became the first Cuban boxer to hold the IBF world title since the organization's inception.^[15]

On 26 March 2011 Gamboa foughtJorge Solís to defend his WBA featherweight title. Although the fight was originally agreed to contest both of Gamboa's WBA and IBF featherweight titles, Gamboa missed a mandatory re-weighing procedure established by the IBF which resulted in the title being withdrawn. The fight lasted only four rounds after Gamboa sent Solis to the floor a total of five times, causing referee David Fields to stop the fight, giving Gamboa the victory by TKO. After the fight, Gamboa was interviewed, a moment that Gamboa took advantage of to express his awareness and support towards the victims of Japan's latestearthquake andtsunami. Gamboa also took the opportunity to proclaim his desire to fight higher caliber featherweight boxers such as IndonesianChris John and Puerto RicanJuan Manuel López, who was attending the fight as a spectator and decided to come up to the ring and proclaim his desire for a possible fight with Gamboa as he also made the observation that it was a business decision to be taken by their shared promoterBob Arum.

On 10 September 2011, Gamboa foughtRing top 10 ranked featherweightDaniel Ponce de León in a non-title fight. Gamboa managed to connect more punches in every round to keep the scorecards in his favor. Although there were not many exchanges, Gamboa's hand speed and reflexes were on display as he connected with quick and short combinations and managed to avoid some of de León's left swings with his characteristic upper body movement. In the eighth round, during a short exchange, Gamboa and de León accidentally clashed heads, resulting in de León suffering a cut to his forehead, consequently the referee stopped the fight and asked de León's corner to check the boxer's wound. After having tried and failed to stop the bleeding it was determined by de León's team that their fighter was unable to continue in the fight.

On 26 October 2011, Gamboa hired world-famousEmanuel Steward as his head trainer.^[16] Gamboa was initially set to return in April 2012 againstlightweight championBrandon Rios, but he pulled out of the bout citing problems with his contract withTop Rank. After a long dispute between Gamboa and Top Rank, the two sides agreed to part ways, with Gamboa's contract being bought out for a flat fee. In July 2012, Gamboa signed a promotional contract with50 Cent andFloyd Mayweather's promotional company,The Money Team Promotions.^{[citation needed]}

After the 50 Cent-Mayweather TMT Promotions never came to fruition, 50 Cent decided to make his own promotional company SMS Promotions and officially signed Gamboa. 50 Cent worked with Top Rank's Bob Arum and Mayweather's rivalManny Pacquiao. Gamboa then landed a fight on the undercard ofManny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Márquez IV on 8 December 2012. He foughtMichael Farenas, who fought to a draw in his previous fight with WBA title holderTakashi Uchiyama. Gamboa was show boating throughout the fight while Farenas maintained his focus. Farenas was dropped twice which gave Gamboa more confidence, dropping his hands occasionally. In the ninth round Gamboa tried to finish Farenas off with a barrage of punches but Farenas countered him with a left hook that dropped Gamboa. Gamboa stopped show boating after the ninth round, winning the fight by unanimous decision.^[17]

As he was moving up to lightweight, Gamboa was linked to performance-enhancing drugs through the Biogenesis scandal, which included Alex Rodriguez.^[18]

Gamboa eventually moved up in weight to take on undefeatedDarleys Pérez (28-0) for the vacant WBA interim lightweight title. Gamboa dropped Pérez in the first round and easily won most of the follow-up rounds, Yuriorkis continued to have success on the outside winning almost all the middle rounds as well. Gamboa although fighting at an unusually measured pace at times consistently beat Pérez to the punch amassing a clear lead in the bout. Pérez came alive momentarily to drop Gamboa in the eleventh but this was ruled a slip and Yuriorkis Gamboa won a comfortable unanimous decision improving to 23–0.

On 28 June 2014 Gamboa faced off against undefeated WBO titlistTerence Crawford onHBO Boxing After Dark. Gamboa got off to a hot start, winning the first four rounds and using his superior foot speed and hand speed but was caught and dropped by a right hook in the fifth round. Gamboa continued to fight back but was dropped again in the eighth and finally was stopped in the ninth round after two knockdowns and a huge right hook by Crawford. "We were just two warriors in the ring trying to get the victory, and he won." stated Gamboa after the bout. This was Gamboa's first loss as a professional ending his undefeated streak.^[19]

After losing to Crawford, Gamboa started to become less active. He won three straight fights before suffering an upset loss against Robinson Castellanos. Gamboa facedJason Sosa on 25 November 2017 stepping in as a late replacement for Robinson Castellanos, Yuriorkis won a controversial majority decision.^[20][21] On July 27, 2019, Gamboa fought Roman Martinez. Gamboa knocked out Martinez in the second round.^[22]

On December 28, 2019, Gamboa foughtGervonta Davis for the vacant WBA (Regular) lightweight title. Davis was ranked #1, while Gamboa was ranked #2 at lightweight by the WBA.^[23] Davis knocked down Gamboa three times en route to a twelfth-round technical knockout win.^[24]

In his next fight, Gamboa challengedDevin Haney for his WBC lightweight title. Gamboa was ranked #10 by the WBC, while Haney was the world's number two lightweight according toThe Ring magazine rankings.^[25] Haney completely outboxed Gamboa en route to a unanimous decision victory, 120–107, 120–107 and 118–109 on the scorecards.^[26]

• Official website (archived)
• Amateur record
• Boxing record for Yuriorkis Gamboa fromBoxRec(registration required)
• Yuriorkis Gamboa - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankings atBox.Live

• 1981 births
• Living people
• Martial artists from Guantánamo
• Sportspeople convicted of crimes
• People convicted of domestic violence
• Boxers at the 2003 Pan American Games
• Boxers at the 2004 Summer Olympics
• Olympic gold medalists for Cuba
• Doping cases in boxing
• Defecting sportspeople from Cuba
• Olympic boxers for Cuba
• Featherweight boxers
• Super-featherweight boxers
• Lightweight boxers
• International Boxing Federation champions
• World Boxing Association champions
• Olympic medalists in boxing
• Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics
• Cuban male boxers
• 21st-century Cuban sportsmen
• IBA Men's World Boxing Championships medalists
• Pan American Games gold medalists for Cuba
• Pan American Games gold medalists in boxing
• Central American and Caribbean Games bronze medalists for Cuba
• Competitors at the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games
• Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in boxing
• Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games

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