Juan Manuel Lopez and Yuriorkis Gamboa may meet in 2019 (Photo: David Martin Warr)
By Chris Robinson
On Saturday night, in Miami, FL, former world champions Juan Manuel Lopez and Yuriorkis Gamboa won separate bouts to pave the way towards a potential showdown in 2019.
Lopez (36-6, 32 KO’s) dropped Argentina’s Cristian Ruben Mino (19-3, 17 KO’s) four times, as he scored a ten-round unanimous decision. Lopez looked several times like he was going to finish the fight, but his opponent stayed resilient.
“I don’t know how he absorbed all the punishment,” said Lopez post-fight. “I couldn’t know him out but it was a good fight. It was uncomfortable because of his style but I’ve been fighting for a long time and it was an excellent warm up for the Gamboa fight.”
In the main event and last fight of the evening, Gamboa (29-2, 17 KO’s) dropped Miguel Beltran Jr. (33-7, 22 KO’s) in the first round and boxed his way towards a comfortable decision, also over ten rounds.
“I was very happy with the results,” said Gamboa. “I tried to work on my explosiveness and it worked well. It was a very exciting night for me. Here in Miami. My city. Great crowd.”
The two fighters both want to make the fight happen, so don’t be surprised if we see them face off in the first quarter of 2019.
Chris Robinson can be reached at CRobinson@hustleboss.com