Cuban defectors Yuriorkis Gamboa, Odlanier Solis and Erislandy Lara were all victorious on the season premier of ESPN2's Friday Night Fights, with mixed results as to how the fighters actually looked.

In the TV opener from Primm, Nevada, junior middleweight prospect Lara improved to 3-0 with a first round TKO of Rodrigo Aguiar. The 25-year old southpaw, who now lives in Germany, battered Aguiar (5-4, 3 KO) and made his outclassed opponent look like a walking, breathing punching bag. It was, in bare terms, the night's most impressive performance.

Heavyweight Odlanier Solis improved to 13-0 with his ninth knockout, beating down big Georgian Kevin Burnett, buckling his legs bad enough for a referee stoppage in the eighth round of a scheduled ten.

Solis, 28, was hardly what you'd call explosive in his U.S. debut. He looked lethargic, apathetic, and, well, lots of other non-flattering adjectives. He was clearly a superior athlete in comparison to Burnett, but it was Burnett pressing the action, if only behind a jab he worked hard to establish, and also failed to establish.

Instead of pushing the button, Solis simply waited on Burnett to make mistakes and give him openings. Burnett, to his credit, provided few, though Solis did get a couple of big flurries that Burnett mostly quelled. The eighth round flurry was set in motion by a big shot that staggered Burnett and saw his knees all but completely give out. After a few more heavy shots, referee Jay Nady stopped the fight.

In the main event, Yuriorkis Gamboa scored a final round stoppage of Roger Gonzalez, improving to 13-0 with his 11th knockout. Gamboa went down yet again, this time a flash counter shot in the second round. But besides that, the fight was all Gamboa. Gonzalez played a good defensive game, but did next-to-nothing offensively and was never truly in the fight.

The stoppage was also pretty debatable -- OK, screw it, the stoppage stunk. Gonzalez was barely hurt and the fight had 48 seconds left. If the man was to be knocked out, let him get knocked out. I know I'm someone who says there's no reason letting someone get hurt, but stoppages like this are no good for anyone, either.

In all, it was not an impressive performance by Gamboa, and the further into his career we get, the more likely it seems that as soon as he faces a strong-chinned puncher, he's going to get his proverbial block knocked off.

Cuban just-past-prospects Yuriorkis Gamboa (pictured left) and heavyweight Odlanier Solis (pictured right) are in action tonight on ESPN2, starting at 9pm, in the season premier of Friday Night Fights. This is also the season opener of our round-by-round coverage for 2009, and I hope you'll join us tonight to talk some boxing in real time.

If you're new, the coverage will be in the comments of this post, where everything updates live and requires no refreshing on your part.

Top prospect Yuriorkis Gamboa will return to action on January 9 in Primm, Nevada, a place he's made his home away from home in the last year. He'll share the ESPN2 Friday Night Fights bill with fellow Cuban Gold Medalist and defector Odlanier Solis, who will be in heavyweight action. The two will share a pro bill for the first time.

Gamboa (12-0, 10 KO) went 5-0 in 2008, including notable televised wins over Darling Jimenez and Marcos Ramirez on HBO. He beat Jimenez and Al Seeger in Primm.

The explosive Cuban may face Belarusian "contender" Andrey Isaev (19-1, 6 KO), who is ranked No. 2 by the WBO, which is about as laughable as rankings come. Isaev has never beaten anyone, but was stopped by still-unbeaten Brit Kevin Mitchell in 2006. Gamboa, needless to say, will be a massive favorite, and should he get past Isaev (or whomever), will move on to face Elio Rojas for an interim title.

Solis (12-0, 8 KO) has no rumored opponent as of yet. He is among the best prospects in the heavyweight division, and the 28-year old has been facing solid pros pretty much his entire pro career thus far, though he's yet to face a serious challenge. He is fast-tracked, though, much like Alexander Povetkin was.

Frankly, no matter the opponent, Gamboa is so much fun to watch that that week's FNF will be better than the average bear regardless. There are really very few guys with his offensive skillset, and his vulnerability makes him even more interesting.