Gamboa vs Rios - Let's Hope So!

Top Rank are apparently looking at either doing a double header featuring them both against other opponents to build a big fight between the two or possibly matching them straight away!

I would be happy with both because they are both entertaining so a good night of boxing and if they do fight.....I can't wait!

Gamboa vs Rios has huge FOTY potential.

It's an interesting fight to judge how well Gamboa is moving up and also for Rios who struggles to make the weight and would probably be his last at 140ibs?

Both have power but Gamboa more skills IMO but I would fancy Rios due to his stubbornness and durability.

Your thoughts please.

Strange this as Rios was supposed to be moving up but it's on the cards so I'm not complaining. Gamboa absolutely schools him imo. Rios is much bigger yes but is slow and very one dimensional. I think Gamboa would dance rings round him and get a late stoppage or win by a pretty comfy points decision.

Interesting but will this be Gamboa going straight from FW to LWW? Bit of a jump up especially against a guy who is a bit of a monster albeit a slightly limited monster.

Not sure how much natural size advantage is going to help Rios here, if at all. He's open at the best of times, a recipe for disaster against arguably the fastest hands in the sport right now.

I like Rios, and actually rate him too, but when he's in full flow Gamboa really is something else. Wouldn't surprise me if a fight between him and Rios ended up being a similar affair to Pacquiao-Hatton, though a fair bit less one sided. Rios' style is made for the Cuban, and I can see him being totally overwhelmed by the speed and accuracy of Gamboa's shots landing square on his all too often wide open chin.

Nobody worried about Gamboa's chin in this one? Rios has stopped 10 of his last 11 opponents and can bang. Gamboas been down against lesser punchers than Rios.. Interesting fight.

My head tells me to agree with you all but I think that jumping 2 weight classes against a huge guy at the weight may be too much.

Rios has a very good chin and is extremely durable and I think he could weather an early storm and wear Gamboa down.

Boxing would be boring if we all agreed anyway!

Lets hope it happens. Would be a great fight if it did. My money would be on Gamboa although as someone mentioned I could see him hitting the canvas at some point

This is what its all about!!!

A fight that has us divided. I hope and pray this fight gets made, it would be great to watch and the run up to it will make this forum a pleasure to be on!!

Yeah I know, a high profile fight that genuinely has us talking, a fight that you can see going either way, I've missed that feeling for a while now.

Good shout Alex.

I'd be leaning with Gamboa here. Speed and skill.

To use a cliche - a good big man beats a good small man but a great small man beats a good big man.

Seems too much too soon for Gamboa, he may have power down at featherweight but as shown in the past even a few pounds can make a huge difference, a fight for the future but not now.

Would love these 2 to go at it. 2 of my favourite boxers who look lik e2012 could be a big war for them. Gamboa has the skills and the speed and should outbox rips based on style. However, rios is a monster and would be huge even if they fought at 135 let alone 140. I think rips has been wrongfully labelled as slow. On the inside when he lets his hands go he can put pinches together very well and while he may not be a Chavez or Duran at closing the ring off he keeps you moving and gets you into good positions. Gamboa's weakness is his chin and at only 5'5, 5'6 he won't be the stronger of the 2 and tips can bang. He has stopped his last 10 opponents vs good level opposition.

Reports say he is getting a conditioner hence why he's staying at 135, so if he turns up like he did vs Acosta he could well win. I can see it being like gamboa-salido but rios wont go down, won't back up, will throw 100 punches every round and will get better as the rounds go on.

This is a real 50/50 fight imo, it wouldn't surprise me if gamboa boxes his head off and I won't be surprised if rios walks through him

The longer Rios can stay at Lightweight the better for him, I really don't think he brings much special to the table aside from being massive at the weight which makes him very strong and durable. John Murray would have had him in some trouble if he could do any damage, boxing wise there wasn't much between them Rios just hit harder and could easily deal with Murrays power, when he comes up against bigger guys at 140lbs he'll come unstuck.

However Gamboa is a smaller guy with question marks surrounding his chin, if he boxes to his best he should win a wide decision not too different from Pacquiao, if he gets sloppy he gets but away as Rios can bang and is pretty relentless. My money would be on this being the night Gamboa announces himself as really being up there with the best.

The big worry for Rios imo is that he is very slow. Gamboa is ridiculously quick and is used to fighting quicker fighters than Rios. I think Rios will struggle to catch Gamboa often enough to win.

Personally I can see it going a bit like Acosta/Rios early rounds but when it goes to the later rounds it really is anyones guess, I can see Gamboa being outmuscled and broken down late on and if he decides to have his arms lower than his waist as normal and takes some of the big shots that Rios can dish out he's in troouble.

No sign that there's any problem with Gamboa's chin, from my knowledge (Though I haven't seen every fight) he hasn't ever been truly knocked down, what I mean is I have never seen him take a legitimate knockdown, there was one where he slipped and it got scored but apart from that I don't think there has been.

Yeh, not sure what the fuss about his chin is. Even then I'm not sure how much success Rios would have in landing anything as Gamboa's head movement and general punch evasion is ok dealing with substantially quicker fighters therefore I doubt Rios will land much cleanly. Agree Rios may dominate the championship rounds, if it gets there, however I'd still back Gamboa to take either a points win by 2-4 rounds or even KO/TKO before round 8.

its at 135 not 140 i dont think it would have been a fair fight at 140 and if your in handling gamboa would you want him to jump three classes to fight a guy who can bang like that when he struggles with the weight?
its a close one to call but only becasue rios struggles with 135 at 140 the jump is to big with nothing above 126 prior to it.

i think at LW gamboa beats him UD or mid/late KO. at 140 rios bang his body for a few and then stops him.