Javiel Centeno/Fightwireimages.com

Yuriorkis Gamboa, left, has demonstrated a special blend of speed and power.

Gamboa ready for prime time

The first time Oscar De La Hoya headlined an HBO card was when he fought for his first world title at junior lightweight in his 12th professional fight.

The first time Floyd Mayweather headlined an HBO card came in his 18th professional fight, when he too fought for his first world title at junior lightweight.

Now, along comes another gifted junior lightweight, Yuriorkis Gamboa (9-0, 8 KOs), the explosive 2004 Olympic gold medalist from Cuba.

Guess what? Gamboa, with a rare combination of speed and power, tops an HBO bill in just his 10th pro fight when he steps up in class against Darling Jimenez (23-2-2, 14 KOs), who has won his past six in a row by knockout.

They meet Saturday night (HBO, 9:45 ET/PT) in Primm, Nev., just outside of Las Vegas, in the main event of the "Night of the Rising Stars" tripleheader.

"It's an honor to be able to fight on HBO with only nine fights," said Gamboa, who is scheduled to return to action June 27 on ESPN2 if he's successful Saturday. "It really stimulates me as an athlete."

Two other blue-chip prospects also face stiff tests: junior middleweight James Kirkland (21-0, 18 KOs) fights Eromosele Albert (21-1, 10 KOs) and junior middleweight Alfredo Angulo (12-0, 9 KOs), a 2004 Olympian from Mexico, meets Richard Gutierrez (24-1, 14 KOs), whose only loss came via tight decision to welterweight contender Joshua Clottey in 2006.

And Gamboa is a fighter about whom many are talking. He's earned rave reviews for his unbridled aggressiveness.

"Definitely reminds you of young Mike Tyson, 100 pounds less," said promoter Ahmet Öner of German-based Arena-Box Promotion, which signed Gamboa and his gold medal-winning teammates, heavyweight Odlanier Solis and flyweight Yan Barthelemy. "He reminds me of Tyson in his early fights. He wants to kill his opponent. He wants to crush them."

Gamboa said he has always had that mentality. He said the Cuban broadcasters calling his amateur bouts dubbed him "The Cuban Cyclone."

"I've always fought like that," he said. "I always go out there and try to get rid of my opponent in the first round. I know that's what the fans like."

Öner had gone to the 2004 Olympics with his eye on Solis, but he learned about Gamboa thanks to Tony Gonzalez, an attorney who helped the Cuban trio with their visas after they fled the Cuban national team while training in Venezuela in December 2006.

"I was never big into the small divisions, but Tony brought him to me and I saw him fight and I saw a different boxer," Öner said. "I have given him very good fights to test him early in his career, and I have seen that he is brilliant and special. He is an unbelievable fighter who is getting better and better. He will be world champion."

Öner has moved Gamboa, 26, up the ranks quickly and believes he'll fight for a world title before 2008 ends.

"He can fight anybody," he said. "Maybe two or three more fights and he's ready for Manny Pacquiao [at lightweight]."

HBO's Kery Davis, who programs boxing for the network, has also been impressed by Gamboa, which is why he didn't hesitate to put him in a "Boxing After Dark" main event.

"This is not your ordinary prospect," Davis said. "He has a stellar amateur background and was already fighting the sort of opponents that guys with 15 or 18 fights would face. I absolutely understand this is a unique situation for him to headline, but he's a special kid and he has a big test in front of him. We'll see if his handlers are moving him too quickly. But we all agree he's one of the most exciting talents in the sport.

"There have been prospects that we've looked at as 'can't-miss' kids. Oscar was one of those guys, Mayweather was one of them. So was Shane Mosley. Gamboa has that type of talent. He is ultra-aggressive and very television-friendly."

When Gamboa, Solis and Barthelemy left the Cuban team, they simply walked away from their hotel in daylight, eventually hitching a ride across the border from Venezuela into Colombia.

"It was a very hard decision," Gamboa said. "You think about your family. When I defected, the first thing I asked Tony and Ahmet to do was please help me get my daughter and wife with me. That was the most important thing."

Gamboa said five months after he fled, his wife, Dunia, and 3-year-old daughter, Brenda, escaped Cuba on a boat. Left behind in Cuba are Gamboa's parents and three siblings.

Once in Colombia, Gonzalez helped the Olympians obtain work visas in order to come to the U.S.; Gamboa now lives in Miami and expects to obtain legal residency this year. But after initially coming to the U.S., the trio went to Germany, signed with Öner and turned pro in April 2007.

"I had a stellar amateur career but I always dreamed of being a pro champion," Gamboa said. "Before I defected I thought things would get better in Cuba, but they didn't. They kept declining, so I decided to come here to make life better for myself and, hopefully, my family."

And so far, Gamboa is enjoying his ride to stardom and his freedom.

"I don't have to answer to anyone and I do what I want to do," he said. "I appreciate that very much."

Rahman-Toney rematch?

When Hasim Rahman defended a heavyweight title against James Toney in March 2006, both were near the top of the division. They battled to a draw, and it's been downhill for both ever since.

Rahman (45-6-2, 36 KOs) was knocked out by Oleg Maskaev five months later, although he's won four consecutive bouts since then against lesser competition. Toney (70-6-3, 43 KOs) lost his next two fights to Samuel Peter, before beating journeyman Dan Batchelder in May 2007 and testing positive for steroids afterward; Toney hasn't fought since.

With both of their careers in need of a boost, they're talking about a rematch. If they strike a deal, it would take place July 16 on "Best Damn Sports Show Period" (FSN), Toney promoter Dan Goossen told ESPN.com.

"I'm talking to [Top Rank's] Todd duBoef about it. If Rahman takes the fight, we're ready," Goossen said.

Rahman manager Steve Nelson told ESPN.com they're interested.

"We said if [Goossen] can put it together, we love the fight," Nelson said. "We're all down to earth about the money. Toney knows he needs to show something. We know we need to show something. This fight can show who can move on as a factor in the division. We're both in the same boat. It's a fight to see who goes on. The guy who loses is done. There is nothing more that can be done or said for the loser. And there is a little unfinished business between these guys."

Memphis bound

New York promoter Lou DiBella is taking his show on the road. His June 21 "Boxing After Dark" (HBO) card was originally ticketed for the Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan, but when he crunched the numbers, he couldn't make it work economically. So, the card is going to the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tenn.

"The expenses in New York were so high that I was going to be upside-down doing the show," he said. "I have promoted in Memphis. It's a great boxing city and we got an unbelievable deal from Fed Ex Forum."

He said 70 percent of the 8,000 tickets would be $50 or less. In the main event, Andre Berto faces Miki Rodriguez in a welterweight title eliminator. Undefeated heavyweight prospects Cristobal Arreola and Chazz Witherspoon meet in the co-feature.

Rising flyweight contender Rayonta Whitfield will appear on the untelevised undercard. DiBella said he and Brian Young of Prize Fight Promotions, which is based in Memphis and involved in the show, struck a deal to co-promote Whitfield.

The Arreola-Witherspoon winner will likely move on to a higher-profile fall fight against longtime contender David Tua.

Witherspoon promoter DiBella and Arreola promoter Dan Goossen both told ESPN.com that they've talked to Tua promoter Cedric Kushner about the fight, which HBO is interested in.

"That's the plan," said Goossen, Tua's former promoter. "We've been discussing the Tua fight for the past six months. It appears that Cedric and I can finally come to terms on making it a reality, provided we get the victory against Witherspoon. The networks are interested in it, and it vaults Cris to where we're looking to move him."

HBO eyed Arreola-Tua before ending up with the Witherspoon match.

"We know the fight with Tua is attractive," DiBella said. "The June 21 winner will have knocked off a good young heavyweight, and then if you can go after a name, it's a good career move."

Tua is taking a tune-up fight in August.