When speaking of celebrated Cuban prizefighters, some of the names that readily come to mind are Jose “Mantequilla” Napoles, “Kid’ Chocolate, “Kid” Gavilan, Luis Manuel “El Feo” Rodriguez, Ultiminio “Sugar” Ramos and Joel Casamayor.
It would be premature to suggest that Yuriorkis Gamboa is in that class – yet – but “The Cyclone” has certainly created a commotion and one would be hard-pressed to find anybody who doesn’t think the Miami-based Cuban has the potential to become a definite world champion and perhaps an all-time great.
The 2004 Olympic Games gold medalist, 2009 Prospect of the Year and World Boxing Association (WBA) No. 3-ranked contender, Gamboa (14-0, 12 KOs) will face second-ranked Jose “Cheo” Rojas (25-6-1, 17 KOs, 1 No Decision) of Caracas, Venezuela, for the interim WBA featherweight title this Friday, April 17, on ShoBox: The New Generation on SHOWTIME (11 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the west coast).
“I want to fight for a world championship,” Gamboa said. “I want to be the best in the world. My objective is to win at 126 pounds and in about two years I would like to move up to 130 and then 135.”’
In the co-feature at Buffalo Bills Casino at Primm, Nev., undefeated Selcuk Aydin (17-0, 14 KOs) of Turkey makes his ShoBox and United Sates debuts against hard-punching southpaw Said Ouali (25-2, 17 KOs), a native of Morocco who now lives in Las Vegas, in a 12-round battle of top 10 welterweights.