Yuriorkis Gamboa claimed that he ruptured his right Achilles tendon in the second round of his lightweight bout against Gervonta Davis on Dec. 28. It appears he was right.
According to a medical report posted on his Twitter account, the Cuban lightweight sustained a “complete tear through the Achilles tendon with associated retraction of approximately 3.0 cm.”
The injury was diagnosed by radiologist Dr. Eric M. Godreau in Miami, where Gamboa lives.
Gamboa’s advisor, Tony Gonzalez, told ESPN.com that the fighter will have surgery in the next several weeks.
“That he was able to fight for as long as he did with this injury is incredible,” Gonzalez told the website. “From everything I have read and videos I have watched about this kind of injury, he wasn’t supposed to be able to do what he did. Speaking to him in my office when the dust settled, I asked him, ‘How were you able to do this?’ He told me when he went down in the second round is when he felt the pain. He said the shot [from Davis] didn’t put him down. He said he was fine. He said, ‘What put me down was I felt a snap in the back of my leg. When I got up, I started looking at the back of my leg.’ It’s amazing. I’m without words.
My injury sustained in the 2d round…complete tear (grade 3) verified as per MRI and board certified Dr. I went 12 with Davis and did my best under the circumstances. Like I said, lets dance again when Im at 💯 @SHOsports @b_sutterer @premierboxing @WBABoxing @MayweatherPromo pic.twitter.com/GF22dYk4GF
— Yuriorkis Gamboa (@gamboa) January 13, 2020
“He wasn’t supposed to even go to the third round with this kind of injury. If he is at 100 percent, connect the dots. We believe a rematch is warranted. He couldn’t move laterally the way he wanted to, couldn’t sit down on his punches. Gamboa at 100 percent wasn’t even supposed to last four or five rounds. But he had a Grade 3 rupture and went to the 12th round. I’ve never seen anything like it with this type of his injury. We are not trying to tarnish what Gervonta did but Gamboa feels being 100 percent it would have been a completely different fight. He knows it, I know it, Davis knows it.”
How Gamboa managed to go 11-and-a-half rounds on a bum Achilles is anyone’s guess. If nothing else, the report boosts Gamboa’s considerable moxie in that fight. Conversely, it further underscores Davis’ less than impressive performance in an otherwise successful promotion in his adopted hometown of Atlanta. Although Davis ended up knocking out Gamboa in the 12th round, the hard-hitting Baltimore native appeared lethargic at times and unable to put away a fighter long past his prime.
Not surprisingly, Gamboa called out Davis for a rematch, writing, “I went 12 with Davis and did my best under the circumstances. Like I said, lets dance again when I’m at 100.”