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Yuriorkis Gamboa defends belt in foul-plagued fight

Gamboa claims IBF title over Orlando Salido, continues on path toward Juan Manuel Lopez

Gamboa vs. Salido

Steve Marcus

WBA champion Yuriorkis Gamboa (L) of Cuba connects with a punch on IBF featherweight champion Orlando Salido of Mexico during their title fight Saturday at the Palms. Gamboa won the fight by unanimous decision.

Updated Sunday, Sept. 12, 2010 | 12:07 a.m.

Gamboa vs. Salido

WBA champion Yuriorkis Gamboa (R) of Cuba battles with IBF featherweight champion Orlando Salido of Mexico during their title fight Saturday at the Palms.  Gamboa won the fight by unanimous decision. Launch slideshow »

Featherweight title-holder Yuriorkis Gamboa defended his WBA belt for the fourth time Saturday, defeating Orlando Salido by unanimous decision at The Pearl at The Palms.

The win also earned Gamboa the IBF belt, which was previously held by Salido.

In a fight that kept referee Joe Cortez busy, Gamboa was penalized two points in the final round when he threw an illegal punch after knocking Salido down.

Despite the point deduction, Gamboa managed to win comfortably by scores of 116-109, 115-109 and 114-109.

“I would have to say (tonight) was one of my greatest fights against a very good opponent,” Gamboa said. “I didn’t expect anything less from him, and it was a great night for me.”

Gamboa (19-0, 15 KO) took control early, wobbling Salido (34-11-2, 22 KO) in the first round with a left hook.

In the middle rounds, however, momentum appeared to shift toward Salido as Gamboa committed multiple fouls.

He received warnings from Cortez for pulling on the back of Salido’s head in the clinch and throwing a blatant late punch at the conclusion of the seventh round.

Salido scored a knockdown in the eighth with a straight right, but he ended up struggling in the later rounds when Gamboa turned up his aggressiveness.

Gamboa’s best round came in the twelfth, when he knocked down Salido in the opening minute. It looked as if the Cuban fighter was on his way to a finish until the unexplainable illegal punch, which broke the action and allowed Salido to recover.

“Sometimes you hit a guy and they go down, but sometimes they stand there,” Gamboa said of being unable to finish the fight. “(Salido) took everything I dished out tonight and luckily my hand was raised.”

Gamboa will now turn his attention to the other title holders in the 126-pound division, namely, fellow Top Rank star Juan Manuel Lopez.

The two have been attendance for all of each others' recent fights, and a bout between them would certainly capture the boxing world’s attention.

Lopez is scheduled to face another featherweight champion, Rafael Marquez, in Las Vegas on Nov. 6.

Although it’s unclear if Top Rank would set up the two immediately after that, CEO Bob Arum acknowledged a Lopez, Gamboa fight seems more inevitable every day.

“Of course, if they both keep winning, that’s the match that everyone is going to want to see,” Arum said.

“(Gamboa) is one of the major talents in boxing today, and he’s in a division that has so many great fighters. This young man from Cuba is one of the great fighters in the world today.”

Brett Okamoto can be reached at 948-7817 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at LVSunFighting

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