Gamboa fought on against Davis with injured Achilles

It was a tough battle Saturday night in Atlanta, GA, for the WBA “Interim” Lightweight Championship, as Gervonta Davis eventually got a 12th round knockout over veteran Yuriorkis Gamboa.

Now after the fight, we’ve learned just how tough Gamboa was.

ESPN’s Dan Rafael reported early Sunday morning that Gamboa did in fact suffer some form of an Achilles injury in the third round of the fight but battled on for nine more rounds against the young, powerful former Junior Lightweight champion of the world:

Gamboa adviser Tony Gonzalez tells ESPN that Gamboa was examined by a doctor after the fight and diagnosed with a ruptured Achilles tendon in his right foot. Gamboa may not be what he once was but what a warrior. Fought 10-plus rounds with it. #DavisGamboa #boxing @ShowtimeBoxing

— Dan Rafael (@danrafaelespn) December 29, 2019

Now, Rafael reported the word “ruptured,” but it’s unclear just how damaged Gamboa’s Achilles was after he went to the ground with the injury in the third round.

If you know anything about this type of injury, as it relates to the sports of football and basketball and if Gamboa had fully torn the Achilles, then would not have been able to stand and continue.

It’s entirely possible that he partially tore it and was facing difficulty with pain, but still able to plant and throw punches, as he courageously did throughout the fight.

As our Marquis Johns wrote from ringside last night, Davis had to work to score his 22nd knockout in 23 fights and his 15th KO in a row. After scoring two earlier knockdowns, Gamboa, now 30-3, actually settled in and scored some punches of his own in the middle rounds the fight.

However, eventually, the younger Davis wore him down and put him on the canvas with a thunderous left in the 12th. And, veteran World Championship referee Jack Reiss stopped things.

Gamboa, a 38 year old  former two-division world champion himself, should be given full credit because he obviously could have quit in round 3 for an anti-climactic finish.

As for Davis, he also deserves credit for the win and the knockout, but there will still be some questions as to why he couldn’t put an aging opponent with an injured leg away sooner.