High expectations for a boxer, the kind created by sizzling early-career performances and big talk from one's promoter, can be a bitch. No one who saw YURIORKIS GAMBOA! destroy Rogers Mtagwa last year like he was straight out of a "Matrix" film had much doubt about his talent or how ready he was for greatneess. Add that up with the talk that turned once more to a fight with Juan Manuel Lopez, and with his team actively saying how willing they were to face the then-widely avoided Celestino Caballero... what you end up with is people being disappointed when Gamboa fight the likes of Orlando Salido last fall and the man he fights this Saturday on HBO, Jorge Solis.In truth, as much as Gamboa's flashes of talent and our desire for Gamboa-Lopez and Gamboa-Caballero has us jonesing, fighting Salido and Solis makes a bit more sense from the standpoint of moving Gamboa professionally. Make no mistake, I wanted those Lopez and Caballero fights yesterday. No matter what Top Rank tells us, the Lopez fight is unlikely to get any hotter by being delayed; hell, some have already lost interest by waiting, and Gamboa himself sounds fed up with the delays. But as badass as Gamboa's speed/power combo is, as extensive as his amateur career was, he's not a finished product as a pro. His periodic shaky outings are evidence of that, if they're not evidence of something else. Once you set aside the disappointment of who Gamboa isn't fighting, aking a bout with someone like Solis is a good move, developmentally speaking.
Unless, of course, Solis wins. It's not a possibility I discount. Solis is a solid fighter, a seasoned boxer-puncher with size. He's a top-10 junior lightweight who is moving back to Gamboa's featherweight division, where he also spent some time as a top-10 boxer in that weight class. Our Scott Kraus will be in Altantic City to cover the fight. I'lll stay right here, previewing it.
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