South Philly's Rogers "The Tiger" Mtagwa (26-13-2, 18ko's) has reached the top of the mountain, now there is only one thing left to do.... and that is WIN! After years of crawling and scrapping, Mtagwa gets the fight of a lifetime as he is set to do battle with the darling of the sport, Yuriorkis Gamboa (16-0, 14ko's) of Cuba over a scheduled 12 rounds for the WBA World Featherweight title. This contest will be held at Madison Square Garden in NYC and will also be broadcast live around the world on HBO on Jan 23, 2010.
Mtagwa comes into this fight as a 14 - 1 betting underdog according to the Vegas line. The network is using him as a steppingstone towards a unification bout between Gamboa and Juan Manuel Lopez, a fighter whom Mtagwa took to the limit in a losing effort back in October of '09. Mtagwa has been in war after war after war and can always be counted on to give the crowd it value. He will need everything in his arsenal to pull off this victory. While Gamboa has a skill set as good an anyone in the game, he is hittable and has been on the canvas on multiple occasions. Mtagwa can ill afford to wait until round 7 to warm up, he must attack early and often. If he does, Philly could have a new world champion in their midst!
On the untelevised undercard, North Philly based road warrior Garrett Wilson (7-2, 2ko's) again goes into enemy territory. His foe is undefeated Cruiserweight Carlos Negron (6-0, 5ko's), a former Olympian for Puerto Rico. In Wilson's last bout he upset the 2006 US Amateur Champion Adam Willett.
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Labels: Garrett Wilson, Rogers "The Tiger" Mtagwa
Rogers Mtagwa tried his hardest but in the end Yuriorkis Gamboa's speed led to a 2nd round TKO at Madison Square Garden. Garrett Wilson gave a game effort in his fight against the 6'6" Carlos Negron but the scorecards did not read in his favor when it was all said and done. We'll get 'em next time...
