And yet, the vast, VAST majority of good pros come from the amateur ranks. Usually, from an extensive amateur career.
Come on. Yes, the scoring is different, and amateurs need to make some stylistic adjustments when they get to the pros, but it is absolutely the same sport.
Gamboa may end up fizzling, but I think people are deciding that he will way too early. He has never been hurt, and his knockdowns have been flash knockdowns, usually when he was off-balance, "playing" with his opponents. We have no idea if he will do that when faced with someone who can actually have a chance at beating him. He still may, but we dont KNOW.
Um, the vast majority of Pros period come from the Amateur Ranks and extensive Amateur backgrounds. That you're adding "good" before that detail is of your own invention. There have been just as many ratshit Pros with stellar Amateur backgrouns as there are good Pros with stellar backgrounds, because most Pros come from the Amateurs generally. That's like saying most Pro Basketball Players played ball in college or High School and attempting to use that as a qualifier that the good ones played college ball, and well. Unfortunately, so did nearly all of the bad ones.
That guy that just got tooled last night on FNF was a 3 time NY Golden Glove Champ. And the NY GG's ain't no joke. Unfortunately Darling Jimenez and Paul Malignaggi also did very well there, but not so much on the higher level of the Pro Ranks.
I also disagree that Amateurs and Pros are
ABSOLUTELY the same sport. And you're talking to a guy who sat through most of the Olympics. That shit does very little to prepare someone for the Pro Ranks unless they already have a Pro Style, in which case they typically lost on points because they're not playing patty-cake enough. Now with the more recent departures from the computer scoring system, and the return of 3 minute rounds, it's getting back closer, but for a good while there Amateur Boxing was on the World level a reasonable facsimile of Professional Boxing, and that's being generous.
Now in-terms of Gamboa, how many times does a guy have to show people the EXACT same flaws fight-to-fight for them to get it? I've seen him dropped 5 times now with a right hand, by guys who had no business dropping him. Sure he wasn't very hurt on any occasion, sure he got up and fought relatively well, but it shows that if his man isn't cooperative, is defiant, and times him, he's going to run into problems. He's had hundreds of Fights, he's what, 28 now? There's no reason this shit should have persisted this far.
I like Gamboa, he's exciting, he's fast, strong, and he's also defiant himself. But the actual level of his performances is continually glossed over because of his Amateur background, or because of his dazzling speed/style. Let's put it like this, if that were me in there, you'd all be pointing out every one of those flaws good reasons I'd be absolutely wasted by a guy of Caballero's caliber. And you'd be right.