Jose Luis Soto. My first ever boxing fight in person-not counting, of course, the program's prelims-was Wilfredo Gomez vs. Jose Luis Soto in San Juan, January 20th, 1982. Gomez was Gomez. But he had just lost to Salvador Sanchez and Soto was Mexican and the press had him at something like 33-5? (in reality he was 16 and 17 I think and on the down-slide) so there was a sense of "maybe...who knows" in the air that night. Gomez won quickly by a second round knockout. Soto won 19, lost 31 and drew 3 of his bouts (thank you, Boxrec!) But if you look at his record, he fought Chucho Castillo, Carlos Mendoza, Rafael Herrera, Vicente Pool, Salvador Sanchez, Antonio Becerra, Livio Nolasco, Lupe Pintor, Norberto Cabrera, Javier Barajas, Oscar Muniz, Wilfredo Gomez, Gaby Canizales, Kaoshai Galaxy, Billy Hardy, Thierry Jacob, Tracey Harris Patterson, Hurley Snead, Paul Banke, Regilio Tuur, and Jesse Benavides! Moreover, he held wins over world champions Castillo and (Hall of Famer) Pintor and over Carlos Mendoza (albeit by a dq) and went ten with Sanchez! What a warrior!
When I see/hear the expression Tomato Can, I always think of that episode of Arli$$ (HBO series about a sports ‘super agent’) where his boxer client has a mega payday with Oscar de la Hoya lined up and all he has to do is beat a French pastry … only Arliss’ fighter is in no condition to fight because of a breakup with his girlfriend and they need to find a creative way to call it off at the last minute. The French opponent’s name? Tomate de Cannes, haha.
Think both of those guys tested positive for coke after the fight and were allegedly snorting up together prior.