By Brian Richesson
Two Florida-based fighters prevailed in ESPN co-features on Feb. 22 at the Xtreme Indoor Karting in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Yuriorkis Gamboa, one of the sport's rising prospects, and Richard Gutierrez took care of business in differing fashion.
Gamboa, a Miami resident, impressed in his U.S. television debut. The former Olympic gold medallist for Cuba forced a stoppage of Johnnie Edwards at 1:34 of the first round.
Gamboa (9-0-0, 8 KOs), the WBA's fifth-ranked featherweight, forced the action from the start. He sent Edwards (13-2-1, 7 KOs) into the ropes for a knockdown 30 seconds into the fight and ended it with a right hand one minute later.
Gamboa's charisma from the moment he stepped into the ring and his subsequent quick work of Edwards seemed to suggest a bright future in the fight game. He is said to be the sport's brightest prospect.
In the main event, a junior middleweight matchup, Fort Lauderdale-resident Gutierrez used a physical style to decision Jose Varela, 99-91 and 98-92 (twice). The 5-foot-9 Gutierrez (24-1, 14 KOs), who normally fights at welterweight, overcame the 6-1 Varela with an aggressive inside presence.
Gutierrez's only loss was to Joshua Clottey in 2006.
Varela (23-3, 16 KOs), meanwhile, had his five-bout winning streak snapped. He hadn't lost since 2005 in a decision to Edison Miranda.
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2/21/2008
bantamweight - Jessy Cruz WUD4 Emil Rodriguez
bantamweight - Ricardo Hernandez WUD4 Jose Loza
heavyweight - Henry Fuentas WTKO1 Leon Turner
light middleweight - Tony Roman WUD4 Anthony Osbourne
light welterweight - Alex Brenes D4 Hensley Strachan
heavyweight - Jose Luis Roque WTKO3 Trevor Simmons
light welterweight - Angino Perez WTKO2 Anthony Woods
heavyweight - Elieser Castillo WTKO5 Lenzie Morgan
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By Anthony Ivey
On March 8, Nate Campbell will attempt to take the world lightweight championship from three-beltholder Juan "Baby Bull" Diaz, live on HBO from Cancun, Mexico.
Diaz is known for his straightforward attack, which consists of a combination of pressure and volume punching to overwhelm his opponents. This action style has carried him to the WBA, WBO and IBF titles as well as a perfect pro record of 33-0 with 17 KOs. All of those stats, however, do not impress Campbell.
"I have more punching power, more speed and more boxing ability. He is just not on my level. Who has he fought? I am a throwback fighter, which means I fight the best fighters all the time," says Campbell.
Tampa resident Campbell, 31-5-1 with 25 KOs, does flaunt the division's hardest punch as well as a resume that backs up his claim that he has fought the best fighters around. Ricky Quiles, "Kid Diamond" Raiymkulov, Daniel Attah, Daniel Alicea and Joel Casamayor are just a few of the names "The Galaxxy Warrior" has gone to battle against.
When asked if he sees any weaknesses he can exploit in Diaz, the self-assured Campbell responds, "His whole style. Diaz is tenacious, in shape and has heart. But that's all he's got."
Campbell's journey to this fight could also be described as tenacious. Campbell had to defeat two fighters in separate title-elimination bouts in order to get this championship shot. Those two fighters had an impressive combined record of 76-8-3, and Campbell defeated them handily, both by one-sided decision. This is not the first time Campbell has had to jump over an extra hurdle to make it into a title fight.
"That doesn't bother me, and I don't complain about it. Like I said before, I'm a throwback fighter," says Campbell.
Campbell's confidence isn't in direct correlation with any kind of resentment toward Diaz. "Look, it's not that I dislike Diaz ¬– he just has something I really want. This is who I am. I am still me, and I will always be me."
Nate Campbell knows who he is and what he wants. But on the night of March 8, Juan Diaz may not want to know Nate Campbell once the punches start flying in his direction.
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By Anthony Ivey
Fighting on the undercard of the Williams-Quintana welterweight championship, Winter Haven, Fla., resident Andre Berto successfully defended his NABF welterweight championship with a one-sided stoppage of Germany's Michel Trabant.
After a feeling-out process in round one, Berto started to open up in the second round, landing effectively to both the head and body. In the third and fourth, Berto rattled Trabant with a series of hard uppercuts to the chin that would put Trabant into a defensive shell for the remainder of the bout. Berto continued the onslaught until the end of the sixth round, at which point the doctor decided that Trabant had taken enough and called him unfit to continue.
With the victory, Berto raises his mark to 21-0 with 18 KO's, taking a step closer to a world title shot in 2008. Trabant falls to 43-3-1 while suffering the first stoppage loss of his career.
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2/8/2008
welterweight - Cosme Rivera TKO 8 Raul Pizon
bantamweight- Eric Morel UD 8 Felipe Almanza
jr. middleweight - Santos Benavides UD 6 Alex Perez
middleweight- Ishe Smith TKO 2 Carlos De la Cruz
jr. middleweight- Juan Camilo Novoa KO 1 Ronald Summey
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