Despite suffereing yet another knockdown, WBA featherweight champion Yuriorkis Gamboa successfully defeated Orlando Salido, capturing the IBF featherweight title in what turned out to be perhaps the most difficult test of his career. Once again, Gamboa flashed the speed and combinations that fans have come to enjoy, however, he continues to show lapses in focus as well as defense. On several occassions, Salido was able to catch Gamboa with shots that likely would have been avoided had he been more disciplined in his technique. A more skilled technical fighter, like WBO featherweight champion Juan Manuel Lopez, might be able to capitalize a lot more than the limited Salido was able to. Still, for the most part, Gamboa was able to use his superior boxing skills to keep his distance, land his combinations and win the majority of the rounds. Although Salido made a fight of it, Gamboa proved to be a champion in the later rounds, taking control of the fight and securing the victory on the scorecards with a late 12th round knockdown of his own. Relive all the action in FighHype's round-by-round results.
ROUND 1
Gamboa fires a quick 3-punch combination, but it's blocked. Nice body shot and a left hook lands for Gamboa. Salido getting beat to the punch by the faster Gamboa. HARD right hand down the middle from Gamboa snaps the head back of Salido. Quick left hand from Gamboa backs Salido up to the ropes. Not much coming back from Salido right now. Nice right hand to the body from Gamboa backs Salido up. Slow combo from Salido is easily blocked by Gamboa. Round to Gamboa.
Gamboa 10 Salido 9
ROUND 2
Quick 1-2 lands for Gamboa. Left hook lands for Gamboa. Salido lunges in and digs a 1-2 to the body. Gamboa moving around the ring behind his jab. Salido lowers his head, bulls forward and digs some shots to the body. Right hand lands for Gamboa upstairs. They trade right hands, but Gamboa follows it up with a nice 4-punch combo. Nice uppercut lands for Gamboa. Another quick flurry of punches land for Gamboa. Salido just can't get anything done as he continues to get beaten to the punch. Uppercut and a left lands for Gamboa. Every time Salido thinks about firing a shot, Gamboa fires off his own combinations. Round to Gamboa.
Gamboa 20 Salido 18
ROUND 3
Salido trying to make it a rough fight now as he looks to close the distance. Gamboa makes him pay though as he throws caution to the wind and unleashes a flurry of shots that backs Salido up. Right hand lands for Gamboa. Salido lands a couple of pitty-pat shots. Now Salido digs some shots to the body. Both men trade shots on the inside. Salido actually lands a pretty decent combination. Hard right hand lands for Gamboa. Nice 3-punch combo lands for Salido. Gamboa backs up. Right to the body followed by a left lands for Salido. Better round for Salido, but still a round won by Gamboa.
Gamboa 30 Salido 27
ROUND 4
Salido digs a shot to the body. Gamboa content to jab and move. Salido digs a couple more shots to the body. Nice 1-2 lands for Gamboa. Right and a left lands for Gamboa. Salido continues to try and work his way in and dig to the body. Gamboa simply peppers him with his jab and ties him up on the inside. Left hook lands for Gamboa, who's starting to showboat with his hands down now. Round to Gamboa.
Gamboa 40 Salido 36
ROUND 5
HARD left hook lands for Gamboa to start the round. Both men trade on the inside. Nice uppercut lands for Gamboa. Salido lands an overhand right. Salido continues to work Gamboa's body on the inside. Salido digs a couple more shots to the body. Nice left and a right lands for Salido. Gamboa getting a little outworked here as he's become content to land a few jabs and tie up on the inside. Round to Salido.
Gamboa 49 Salido 46
ROUND 6
Salido digs another series of shots to the body. Nice right hand upstairs lands for Salido. Gamboa fires back and lands a 1-2. Both men trade on the inside. Uppercut lands for Gamboa. Salido presses forward. Gamboa holds on. Nice right to the body lands for Salido. Gamboa lands an uppercut, but Salido continues to dig shots to the body. Salido lands a right upstairs. Gamboa answers with an uppercut. The fight is getting kind of ugly in there. Salido presses forward again and fires a few shots to the body. Gamboa holds on. Close round, but I give it to Salido for pressing the action.
Gamboa 58 Salido 56
ROUND 7
Gamboa decides to turn up the heat as he comes out firing, backing Salido up to the ropes. Salido is game though as both men trade shots. Gamboa doing a lot of holding in there. Salido works the body. Gamboa fighting in spurts now. Salido continues to just lower his head and fire away at the body. Gamboa is slipping and sliding with those shots, but still, it makes these rounds close than they need to be. Round to Gamboa though.
Gamboa 68 Salido 65
ROUND 8
Quick 5-punch combo lands for Gamboa. HARD right hand lands for Gamboa. WOOOOOOO....Salido answers with a counter right that drops Gamboa. He's up and tries to laugh it off as he takes the count. Salido presses the attack. Gamboa holds on. Salido makes it ugly as he roughs him on the inside. Salido works the body. Gamboa holds on. Both men trade on the inside again. Round to Salido.
Gamboa 76 Salido 75
ROUND 9
Gamboa digs a left hook to the body. Two left hooks upstairs land for Salido. Nice 1-2 lands for Gamboa, but Salido eats it and digs more shots to the body. Gamboa misses with a wild left hook. Right to the body lands for Salido. Quick 1-2 lands for Gamboa and he dances away. Salido tries to rough him up on the inside. Right and a left lands for Salido. Close round, but I give it Salido.
Gamboa 85 Salido 85
ROUND 10
Gamboa still content to just land his jab, keep his distance and tie up on the inside. Salido just continues to let his hands go on the inside. Nice left hook lands for Salido. Gamboa answers with a 1-2. Nice left hand down the middle lands for Gamboa now. Gamboa backing Salido up. Both men doing a lot of holding now. HARD left hook lands for Gamboa and Salido wobbles. Another right hand lands for Gamboa. Round to Gamboa.
Gamboa 95 Salido 94
ROUND 11
Gamboa looks energized now. HARD left hook and a right hand from Gamboa backs Salido up to the corner. Gamboa jumps on him and they clash heads. Salido has a nasty cut that the doctor has to take a look at. The action resumes. Now Salido is energized as he digs some shots to the body of Gamboa. Right hand lands for Gamboa and he slips away. HARD right to the body lands for Gamboa. Salido lands a right upstairs. HARD uppercut lands for Gamboa. Left hook lands for Gamboa. Another uppercut lands for Gamboa. Round to Gamboa.
Gamboa 105 Salido 103
ROUND 12
Right hand lands for Gamboa, Salido slips to the ground and it's ruled a knockdown. He takes the count but complains about it. Nice 1-2 lands for Gamboa. Another flurry of punches from Gamboa as he overwhelms Salido, who just covers up against the ropes. Gamboa lands a shot that drops Salido, but then he hits him on the ground. Referee Joe Cortez takes 2 points from Gamboa, but in my opinion, if there was ever a case to DQ a fighter, this was it. Gamboa clearly walked over to Salido and intentionally landed an extremely late shot to the back of the head of a downed opponent. Gamboa lands a nice 3-punch combo. Crazy round. I thought Gamboa won it, dropping Salido early in the round, but then he lost 2 points after clearly knocking Salido down again, but the second time wasn't ruled a knockdown. So I'm guessing that makes it a 8-8 round I believe.
Gamboa 113 Salido 111
Official judges scorecards: 116-109, 114-109, 115-109
THE WINNER BY UNANIMOUS DECISION...YURIORKIS GAMBOA
COMUBOX NUMBERS
Gamboa total punches: 260/738
Salido total punches: 140/759
Gamboa power punches: 208/504
Salido power punches: 129/604
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