PBC Signs Yuriorkis Gamboa and Marcos Maidana
Big news has graced the sport involving Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions brand. On the heels of announcing his return to the sport, Marcos Maidana has added himself to the team. Additionally, 37 year-old Yuriorkis Gamboa includes himself as a new member as well.
Both have signed a multi-fight agreement with Gamboa making his debut in the Spring and Maidana in the Summer!
Yuriorkis Gamboa (29-2, 17KO)
Hopefully, the talented Olympic Gold medalist has found a good fit. Gamboa found early success in the pro-ranks winning titles in two divisions and quickly finding himself on everyone’s pound-for-pound radar.
Issues with multiple promoters resulted in periods of serious inactivity for the former champion.
Gamboa has mostly campaigned at the featherweight and super featherweight limits where held titles in both divisions. He jumped out to a 22-0 start before heading into a 2014 lightweight title fight with current pound-for-pound talent Terrence Crawford.
It was a thrilling Fight of the Year candidate in which Gamboa buzzed the future three-division champion. Ultimately, Crawford’s size and power would be the difference and earned him a ninth round TKO.
Following, promotional issues would plague Gamboa. Consequently, he only fought three more times between 2014 and 2017; sitting out all of 2016.
His luck would change in 2017 when he signed a promotional deal with Golden Boy Promotions. He would immediately feature in a main event on ESPN.
Unfortunately, he was shockingly stopped by divisional dark-horse Robinson Castellanos. Since then, Gamboa has gone 3-0; defeating former WBA champion Jason Sosa and former title challenger Miguel Beltran Jr along the way.
Even at an advanced aged, people will be interested to see if he can recapture his former glory. Since he’s most recently fought at junior lightweight, a showdown with WBA champion Gervonta Davis would be a mouth watering match-up for hardcore fans.
Marcos Maidana (35-5, 31KO)
The Former two-division champion and cult hero Marcos Maidana returns after a nearly five year absence.
Maidana, who was beloved by boxing fans for his all-out aggressive style, cemented himself as an eternal boxing fan favorite when he moved up to welterweight and handed an undefeated Adrian Broner his first professional defeat in December 2013.
Broner, still a brash character today, talked a big game leading into the fight; insulting “El Chino” many times.
Broner was a heavy favorite heading into the fight, but Maidana handed him a thorough beating; knocking him to the canvas twice. That win, and the subsequent internet fame that came with it, led Maidana in to back-to-back fights with Floyd Mayweather.
After giving the future Hall of Fame inductee his toughest fight in years, fans demanded an immediate rematch. While Maidana put up a very good fight both times, he would come up short but walked away a rich man.
After winning the Floyd Mayweather sweepstakes twice, the brawler from Argentina decided to retire and enjoy his earnings. Although he left the sport, he has stayed in the minds of many boxing fans evident by the social media posts of his lavish lifestyle.
While he intends to return at welterweight, many fans are skeptical given the amount of weight the former champion has gained. Regardless of which way he chooses to go, one thing is for sure, boxing fans will tune in to watch!
By: Tanner Gill
