It’s going to be a very busy day for Thompson Boxing Promotions who have two of its premier boxers in major fights in separate parts of North America on Saturday, June 8.
While Colombia’s Darley Perez (28-0, 19 KOs) fights Cuba’s Yuriorkis Gamboa (22-0, 16 KOs) for the interim WBA lightweight title in Canada on HBO Boxing After Dark, Thompson Boxing’s other elite boxer Josesito Lopez (30-5, 18 KOs) fights Marcos Maidana (33-3, 30 KOs) in Southern California in a welterweight clash on Showtime Championship Boxing.
Fight fans will be watching both outcomes.
Perez, 29, has been yearning for an opportunity to showcase his boxing skills on a world-class level. The native of San Pedro de Uraba, Colombia, knows that Gamboa has been trained under the reknowned Cuban boxing system and expects a precision fighter with world-class experience to back it up.
“I have been sparring against many Cuban fighters because of their style of fighting is very similar to Gamboa’s fight style. They are great for sparring purposes,” said Perez, who has fought numerous times in North America but never Canada. “I have learned a lot by sparring with them. I feel comfortable going into the ring to battle it out against Gamboa.”
Gamboa, 31, is promoted by rap star 50 Cent and has proven over the years as a professional to be equally adept at all-out war, or engaging in a battle of intelligent scientific mayhem. Though he has only 22 pro fights he fought several hundred times as an amateur star for Cuba.
“I have been training very hard for this fight. I had to step up my regiment and train harder because I am taking on Yuriorkis Gamboa who is a higher caliber fighter,” says Perez.
The battle for WBA lightweight supremacy between Perez and Gamboa will be televised on HBO’s Boxing After Dark on Saturday, June 8 at 10 p.m. ET/PT. The accompanying bout will be Chad Dawson vs. Adonis Stevenson vying for the light heavyweight belt. Perez aims to steal the show.
“Everyone watching the fight should know that it is going to be a great fight and that I am prepared to go toe-to-toe with Gamboa,” Perez says. “The most important thing for me would be to win big against a fighter as skilled as him.”
