A Saturday press conference is in the works for smack-talkers Adrien Broner and Paulie Malignaggi.
Steward discusses Gamboa
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Manny Steward said that he has "always liked" Yuriorkis Gamboa as a fighter. Hall of Fame trainer Manny Steward confirmed that he is likely to begin coaching unbeaten former titleholder and RING No. 1-rated Cuban Olympic gold medalist featherweight Yuriorkis Gamboa, in accordance with a recent discussion with the fighter's promoter, Ahmet Oner. "I haven't made any deal yet, but we just talked about it, you know," Steward told RingTV.com on Thursday. "I never went into any specifics or anything. But I've always liked Gamboa as a fighter." Co-promoted by Oner and Top Rank Inc., Gamboa (21-0, 16 KOs) would work alongside RING No. 1-rated WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight titleholder Wladimir Klitschko, among others who are trained by Steward. "Emanuel Steward is one of the best trainers in the world. With Gamboa, he now has one of the best fighters in the world. I am very happy with this solution, and I hope that Steward will take Gamboa to the next level," said Oner. "Yuri is already a complete fighter, but it doesn’t matter how good you are. A great trainer will always find a way to make you even better." Steward said he got a good word about Gamboa from another boxer he trains in Irish fighter Andy Lee (27-1, 19 KOs), who decisioned Brian Vera (19-6, 12 KOs) on Oct. 1 to avenge a seventh-round knockout loss from March of 2008. "The thing about Gamboa is that Andy Lee has a lot of respect for Yuriorkis from the amateurs, and I try to keep and train guys who get along with each other together, but I never went into too much detail about it at all," said Steward. "Ahmet has always been on me to train one of his fighters. I'll be meeting with him again tomorrow [Friday,] so I'm quite sure that we're going to work something out." Among the goals of Top Rank Inc. CEO Bob Arum is a bout between Gamboa and RING No. 1-rated WBA lightweight titleholder Brandon Rios (28-0-1, 21 KOs). Gamboa is coming off a victory over Daniel Ponce de Leon on Sept. 10 in Atlantic City, and Arum said that he hoped to get the Cuban boxer back into the ring "probably in February." Rios will pursue his 11th win in a row against RING No. 8-rated lightweight and once-beaten British contender Johnny Murray (31-1, 18 KOs) on the undercard of Miguel Cotto vs. Antonio Margarito in an HBO televised rematch at New York's Madison Square Garden on Dec. 3. "That's the guy, Brandon Rios, who they're saying that Gamboa wants to go after. That's a great fight right there," said Steward. "That would be the ultimate, and I believe that's one that HBO is trying to build up to."
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