Yuriorkis Gamboa, Juan Manuel Lopez To Return On November Card In Miami

Former unified featherweight champion Yuriorkis Gamboa is set to return to the ring for the first time in nearly a year.

Gamboa will fight in the main event of a boxing card in Miami on November 20, marking the first time the Cuban Olympic gold medalist has fought in the city. He will face former title challenger Miguel Beltran Jr.

After an active 2017 that saw Gamboa win three of his four fights, including a majority decision win over Jason Diaz, Gamboa has yet to fight once in 2018. Gamboa briefly held the unified WBA “super” and IBF featherweight titles from 2010-2011 before eventually challenging for Terence Crawford’s WBO lightweight title in 2014. Gamboa was stopped in the ninth round of their fight and has yet to win a title since the loss.

Beltran has previously challenged for the IBF and WBO super featherweight titles in 2011 and 2012 respectively, but did not win either of those fights. Beltran has not fought since an April 2017 unanimous decision loss to Casey Ramos.

Also set to fight on that card is two-division world champion Juan Manuel Lopez. Lopez, who has a resume that includes fights with Mikey Garcia, Jesus Cuellar and Orlando Salido, held the WBO super bantamweight title from 2008-2009 and then the WBO featherweight title from 2010-2011. Lopez has lost four of his last six fights and is coming off a loss to Jayson Velez in Puerto Rico back in March. No opponent has been named for Lopez yet.