In the lightweight boxing battle staged in Arlington, Texas, Cuban legend Juriques Gamboa suffered the worst defeat of his career, and was repeatedly knocked down and defeated in the confrontation with young rookie " Bulldog " Isaac Cruz.
Gamboa vs Cruz battle, is a typical competition between new and old boxers, because Gamboa is 40 years old, on the contrary, Cruz from Mexico is only 23 years old, and this battle is a comeback battle between the two sides, Cruz challenged "Mayweather's son" Gwotta Davis as a substitute in December last year, although the points were lost, but it created enough trouble for the opponent, many people feel that according to Cruz's strength and talent, it is very likely to reach the world championship in the future.
Gamboa's last game was 17 months ago, in November 2020, when he lost points to Devon Hani.
Before the game, considering the age and status of the two boxers, the outside world was highly optimistic about Cruz, but Gamboa's decline was more prominent than expected. Just over a dozen seconds after the start of the first leg, Cruz hit a hook punch that made Gamboa physically unstable. Cruz then pounced on his opponent and launched a ferocious attack, Gamboa was completely gritting his teeth and trying to get through the difficulties, only to suffer another heavy blow near the end of the round, fortunately not falling to the ground.
In the second round, gamboa, after stabilizing the situation, began to improve, he deserved to be the gold medalist of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, the technology and timing ability was impeccable, cruz in front of such an experienced veteran, showed deficiencies. Cruz's style is fierce, but unfortunately the technology needs to be further polished and improved. At that time, Gamboa, who was accustomed to the rhythm, took the lead and disturbed the rhythm of the opponent very well, and Cruz rounded his arms to carry out a heavy punch attack, but because the amplitude was too large, he was always able to get the opponent's counterattack.
Gamboa took control of the situation in the second round, but unfortunately he ended up getting old, and towards the end of this round, a flash loss was knocked down by Cruz for the second time. After the opening of the third leg, Gamboa, who had not yet eased up, was knocked down by Cruz for the third time, and the situation on the field had become one-sided.
Cruz's style is somewhat similar to that of Argentine heavy gunner Marcus Medana, but due to the difference in physique and level between the two sides, Cruz is faster than Medana, so that Gamboa is overwhelmed. Due to successive knockouts, and having already passed the peak period, Gamboa's physical strength declined rapidly, looking like a gossamer and his reaction was greatly reduced.
In the fourth round, Gamboa fully turned on the safety mode, delaying time by hugging and other means, but he was knocked down for the fourth time shortly before the end of the round. In this competition, Cruz's left hand hook punch is very good, explosiveness and precision are quite outstanding. After the fourth knockdown, Gamboa was already a little confused, and after reading the seconds, the referee decided to give him another chance, in fact, according to the degree of damage to Gamboa at that time, there was no need to continue the game.
As expected, after the opening of the fifth round, Gamboa was more like a moving target, the opponent's fist rained down, and when the round reached the middle of the round, Cruz first hit the left hand hook punch, followed by a heavy punch with the right hand, hitting Gamboa directly on the rope, he was knocked down for the 5th time, and this time the referee completely terminated the game.
After winning, Cruz's record was rewritten to 23 wins, 2 losses and 1 draw, 16 KO opponents, Gamboa's record dropped to 30 wins and 5 losses, 18 KO opponents, and in the 5 games he lost, 4 were knocked down and lost, but it was the first time that he had been knocked down so many times. Next, Gamboa really does not need to insist anymore, because there is no need, he is losing to time, if he continues to fight against time, the injury is still himself, Gamboa's next focus, there is no other choice but to consider retirement.