Yuriorkis Gamboa avoids surgery for ruptured Achilles

Some good news for Yuriorkis Gamboa: according to El Nuevo Herald, “El Ciclon de Guantamano” won’t require surgery for the Achilles tendon he ruptured this past weekend in his loss to Gervonta Davis. Instead, he’ll undergo an “aggressive” physical rehab plan that could keep him out of training for “up to three months.”

Gamboa (30-3, 18 KO) claims he suffered the injury during a second-round knockdown, but continued to fight on against the heavily favored Davis before ultimately falling in the 12th. It was a remarkable display of guts from the 38-year-old Cuban, who once numbered among boxing’s most electrifying talents before wear, ill-advised moves up in weight, and constant self-inflicted managerial/promotional setbacks left him in his current underwhelming state.

Even with this bit of fortune and his own assertion that he wants to continue to box, he likely doesn’t have much left in his career; besides lacking the technical acumen to make up for his lost physicality, he’s taken a lot more punishment than fellow aging countrymen Luis Ortiz and Guillermo Rigondeaux. At least he won’t have to go under the knife.