Yuriorkis Gamboa defeated Michael Farenas on his return from a 15-month lay-off, but didn’t have it all his own way before picking up a unanimous decision victory.
The 30-year-old former featherweight champion triumphed on the judge’s cards with wide scores of 117-109, 118-108 and 117-108, and had his Filipino adversary down twice in the second and seventh rounds respectively.
However, whilst on the back-foot with Gamboa looking for the knockout in the ninth, the heavy-handed Farenas registered a knockdown of his own, dropping his undefeated opponent to his knees with a powerful left hand.
Gamboa survived and rallied late to be sure of the victory, though many observers will feel that the fight was much tighter than it was scored, with the wide margins flattering the Cuban and Farenas running the rising star much closer than expected.
In the opening exchanges, Gamboa (22-0, 16 KOs) looked a much more solicitous fighter than the firework who in past fights had often thrown caution to the wind and as a result suffered five flash knockdowns in his career. He remained on the outside, content throwing single shots and counter-punching whilst Farenas pressed the fight.
The 30-year-old former featherweight champion triumphed on the judge’s cards with wide scores of 117-109, 118-108 and 117-108, and had his Filipino adversary down twice in the second and seventh rounds respectively.
However, whilst on the back-foot with Gamboa looking for the knockout in the ninth, the heavy-handed Farenas registered a knockdown of his own, dropping his undefeated opponent to his knees with a powerful left hand.
He would be brought into action in the second however. Farenas (34-4-4, 26 KOs) wobbled Gamboa early in the round and the red mist came down for the Cuban, who suddenly seemed more assertive and began to throw the occasional combination, hurting Farenas to the body. 15 seconds before the bell and with his back to the ropes, Gamboa fired a series of punches as Farenas was coming in and put the Filipino down with a right hand, though he wasn’t badly hurt and beat the count.
The action picked up where it left off at the start of the third with Gamboa rushing his opponent into a corner and hurting him with a flurry, but he seemed to take his foot of the gas and Farenas would have his own moments in the round despite being cut by both eyes.
Farenas landed some hard left hands in the fourth session and perhaps stole the round, with the next two being close affairs, though Gamboa would burst into life every now and then and forced Farenas to touch down with a glove in the seventh. He recovered gamely again however and hurt Gamboa once more before the end of the round. He would hurt him more seriously in the ninth.
With Gamboa swinging wildly as he tried finish Farenas off and with the weary looking Filipino pushed back against the ropes, Gamboa left himself wide open to a counter left and crashed to his knees as Farenas landed the blow. He was forced to hold on after getting back on his feet but eventually got back into his rhythm and regained control of the fight in the final rounds.
Job done, but a satisfactory performance?
There’s a lot of talk about Gamboa versus Adrien Broner being made for next year. Ring rust may indeed be a factor, but on this evidence Broner might feel he has no ‘Problem’ with ‘The Cyclone’.
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