Yuriorkis Gamboa not interested in Juan Manuel Lopez fight

Way back in the year of two-thousand and nine, there was a lot of talk about a potential featherweight class between Yuriorkis Gamboa and Juan Manuel Lopez, a pair of exciting, rising young stars in the Top Rank stable.

Promoter Bob Arum decided to let it "simmer," with but a few preliminary discussions about the bout. They were paired on a few cards, and the fighters discussed the potential matchup at length. It was a dream fight.

Fast forward to 2012, and there's no interest out there. Juan Manuel Lopez is delusional at this point, but Yuriorkis Gamboa's response to the idea now is basically, "No thanks."

From The Boxing Lab:

"I'm not looking at fighting him anymore. I think the ship has sailed on that fight."

And that about sums it up. Gamboa (22-0, 16 KO) is coming off of a gritty win over tough Michael Farenas on Saturday, his first fight with new promoter 50 Cent, and his first in 15 months, period. Lopez (31-2, 28 KO) is looking to move up to 130 pounds, where Gamboa is for the moment, after a pair of losses in Puerto Rico to Orlando Salido.

Don't get me wrong: I'd happily watch the fight, because Lopez has no idea how to be in anything but an exciting fight, and Gamboa can be thrilling at times. It would probably still be fun. But Lopez seems to be living in 2009 still, where this fight is "important." It's not. It would just be a likely fun fight, with a clear favorite in Gamboa.

Of course there are far worse things, but Gamboa saying he's not interested probably puts an end to this idea for now. 50 Cent says they're looking to go up to 135 and fight Adrien Broner, but they might want to get Gamboa back in a groove before considering that, too.