Yuriorkis Gamboa (20-0, 16 KOs) successfully defended his WBA featherweight title with a fourth round destruction of Jorge Solis (40-3-2, 29 KOs) on Saturday night in front of a packed house at the Boardwalk Hall’s Adrian Phillips Ballroom in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
It didn’t matter that challenger Jorge “Coloradito” Solis held decided advantages in height and reach. Gamboa was just too fast, too slick, and hit way too hard. Gamboa, known as “El Ciclon de Guantanamo”, dropped Solis five times, and finished him off with a barrage of shots at 1:31 of the fourth round of the scheduled twelve round title fight.
Early on in his fairly young pro career, Gamboa was known as an exciting but reckless bomber who would sometimes have to get up off the floor before knocking out his opponent. In his last two fights, against Orlando Salido and Jonathan Barros, Gamboa won twelve round decisions, but was criticized for being too conservative. In this fight Gamboa found the right mix, and the result was a spectacular performance that showed why he is one of the most exciting fighters in the sport.
The first round was slow, as both fighters checked each other out behind a high guard. By round two, Gamboa saw what he was looking for. After landing a double left hook to open the round, Gamboa floored Solis with a left followed by a short right hand. After being warned for firing a left-right to the body that strayed low, Gamboa decked Solis again with a right that appeared to strike Solis on the back of the head as he was bending down. Gamboa went for the kill, but Solis hung tough.
Gamboa hammered Solis around the ring in round three, battering him with combinations and power shots, including a big left-right at the two-minute mark. Gamboa floored Solis again in the final ten seconds with a right followed by a crunching left hook. Solis barely beat the count and was clearly hurt as he walked to a neutral corner to clear his head before making it to his stool.
Early in round four, Solis complained of getting hit behind his head, but it appeared that he was bending so far at the waist, that Gamboa couldn’t avoid hitting him. There was no warning. Seconds later, Gamboa dropped Solis again, this time with a left followed by a straight right hand. Gamboa followed up with a four-punch combination with Solis on the ropes near his own corner. With Solis badly hurt, Gamboa unloaded with a vicious barrage that drove Solis to the mat, where referee David Fields immediately waved at off at the 1:31 mark.
