Yuriokis Gamboa turned 38 Monday, celebrating a birthday that allows him to look back on a long career that include ups and downs, titles and trouble, power and finesse.
He’s seen a lot.
But Gervonta Davis warns him that he hasn’t seen it all.
Gamboa didn’t stick around to watch Davis’ last fight on July 27. They were on the same card in Baltimore. Gamboa knocked out Roman Martinez. Then Davis stopped Ricardo Nunez.
“I think it’s a mistake that he didn’t watch my last fight,’’ Davis said at a public workout in Atlanta this week before a Showtime-televised lightweight bout at State Farm Arena. “Saturday night, we’ll see just how much he’s been studying me.”
The implied suggestion is that Davis intends to teach him some of the lessons he missed like a kid skipping class.
Gamboa, world class and perhaps world weary, explains that he didn’t need to see what he has already encountered.
“I didn’t care to watch,’’ Gamboa said. “I went to my dressing room, I waited to get paid, and then I went to my hotel. I didn’t bother to watch it.”
There’s no mistaking Davis’ power. His unbeaten record, 21 stoppages in 22 victories, sums it up. It’s a KO ratio to fear.
But, Gamboa (30-2, 18 KOs) says, “what power does he have that I haven’t faced?
“Without question this is going to be a great fight. There are going to be great moments of battle and a war, but at the same time, a lot of intelligence will be shown in the ring.’’