• Submitted by: manso
• Sports
• 09 / 13 / 2010

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Yuriorkis Gamboa encountered adversity after dominating the first seven rounds. Not only did Gamboa need to overcome a knockdown, but he also had to detain a suddenly emerging Orlando Salido in their featherweight unification title fight late Saturday in Las Vegas.

Energized by his eighth-round knockdown, Salido seemed ready to turn the fight completely in his favor.

But just as quickly as Salido found his opening, Gamboa closed it with an emphatic final two rounds. The Miami resident knocked down Salido in the 11th and 12th rounds and won a unanimous decision.

``This was my toughest fight,'' said Gamboa (19-0). ``Every time I hit Salido, he came to look for a fight.''

Gamboa, who retained his World Boxing Association title and also won the International Boxing Federation belt previously held by Salido, won on all three judges' scorecards, 116-109, 114-109 and 115-109.

The victory keeps Gamboa in line to fight another title unification bout, against Puerto Rico's Juan Manuel Lopez. Like Gamboa, Lopez is unbeaten with an impressive knockout percentage.

But Lopez (29-0, 26 knockouts) first will defend his World Boxing Organization title against Rafael Marquez on Nov. 6.

The bout was originally scheduled for Saturday but was rescheduled after Marquez sustained an injury to his right thumb.

MOSLEY IS BACK

Instead of fading from the scene after his lopsided loss against Floyd Mayweather Jr. in May, Shane Mosley will have only a four-month span between fights. Mosley will return Saturday night and face Sergio Mora in a junior-middleweight bout at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, Mayweather is in another of his long ring absences. Mayweather was arrested Friday in Las Vegas on felony theft charges related to a domestic-violence complaint filed by a former girlfriend and later posted bail.

VAZQUEZ HAS A FOE

For two weeks, Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. had the fight date and location. Now he has an opponent.

Vazquez (19-0-1, 16 KOs) will make the second defense of his World Boxing Organization junior-featherweight title against Mexico's Ivan Hernandez (27-4-1, 17 KOs) on Oct. 16 at the Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee.

Vazquez has fought 13 of his professional bouts in Kissimmee.

GEOGRAPHY LESSON

For someone who arrived from Cuba just two years ago, Miami resident Rances Barthelemy is rapidly learning about different regions of the United States during his young pro boxing career.

On Wednesday night, the unbeaten Barthelemy will fight in his fifth state since turning professional last year. Barthelemy (7-0, five KOs) will fight in an undercard bout of a show in New Hampshire.

Barthelemy already has fought in North and South Carolina, Louisiana and Oklahoma. As an amateur, Barthelemy also represented Florida in the 2009 National Golden Gloves Championships in Utah.

BY SANTOS A. PEREZ
[email protected]

Source: www.miamiherald.com/