with second round knockout
NEW YORK CITY, New York, (CMC) – Cuban Yuriorkis Gamboa easily retained his World Boxing Association (WBA) featherweight title with a second-round knockout of Tanzania’s Rogers Mtagwa at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night.

The African was no match for the undefeated Gamboa, whose first title defence ended at two minutes, 35 seconds of round two at the famous venue.

With the victory, Gamboa improved his ring record to 17-0 with 15 knockouts and Mtagwa fell to 26 wins (18 knockouts) against 14 losses and two draws.

Florida-based Gamboa, who defected from Cuba three years ago, outclassed Mtagwa, flooring him once in the first and twice in the second before the bout was waved off by referee Steve Smoger.

The confident Gamboa declared after the bout that he is willing to tackle the best in the division en route to capturing the unified world featherweight crown.

“I’d love for whoever the public or maybe the press considers the No.1 featherweight (in the world), to have him in the ring for my next fight. That way I can show who is the best,” Gamboa said.

The 28-year-old former Olympic champion had beaten Panama’s Whyber Garcia to capture the WBA 126-pound title in October last year, also at Madison Square Garden.

Gamboa defected from the Cuba national team — with other Olympic champions Yan Barthelemy and Odlanier Solis — in December 2006 while in Venezuela on training camp for the 2007 Pan American Games in Brazil.