There were two that had conspiracy theories and, if you will, maybe even excuses by the losers of those fights, so
Well, they weren't being honest that night, so I'm guessing Don King supplied them with cash and whores for their services.
Actually, King did not promote that fight. Pedro Torres, on the other hand, maybe he paid the judges off.
Nah, Gomez had a per-fight relationship with King...it was like this "you pay me now, I'll fight for you my next bout, you dont, see ya later!" Gomez also had a lawyer and, at times, acted as his own lawyer himself. Surprisingly, King actually respected Gomez, perhaps because he saw the pull Gomez had on Latin people at that time. Thats why King did not steal from Gomez. Other people have treated Gomez like crap, such as that lady he was living with, but not King.
Afterwards a grateful Gomez declared that he owed this win “to Pepe Cordero,” a fellow Puerto Rican and power broker within the WBA. Truer words were never spoken; it was Cordero who had assigned the judges for the match.
I remember when Bob Arum came out during an interview with Ring back in the day where he admitted that Pepe Cordero was the WBA bagman. He stated in order to get anything done it was always that bag of cash to Pepe Cordero.
I don't subscribe to either conspiracy theory. The only thing I'll say about Gomez-Sanchez is that Gomez blew his best chance by going to war with Sal instead of using his skill set and boxing. Would it have changed the outcome? Probably not. Sal was just better. But Gomez would have put up more of a challenge if he fought Sanchez the way he fought in say, the Yum fight.
Zárate had a fever of 103 the week of the fight. He drank a lot of orange juice for the vitamin C to fight it off. Gomez said as he was leaving Puerto Rico for the Sanchez fight that he was in good condition and only nine pounds off the weight so I don’t subscribe to this story he was a blimp on a cruise ship who took the fight on short notice. What is true, however, is that he did pig out at an Asian Buffett in Vegas and had to drop four lbs the morning of the fight.
Have you been to an Asian buffet?? Hard to resist! I had one nearby, the ribs were to die for! And, in L.A. I had duck at one, a meal I will never forget!
I do believe that Zarate wasn’t himself that night and that he probably was unwell. But I don’t take anything away from Gomez. Had Zarate been 100%, I still think he’d have struggled against that version of Gomez and in that partisan arena.
