I don’t doubt that Gomez didn’t train properly - I think it was likely a combination of distractions outside the ring and overconfidence that had crept in over time.
Not contesting that Gomez perhaps didn’t train properly - but, open question, how much blame can be attributed to poor prep given the very early, horror first round Wilfredo endured? Wilfredo came out guns blazing but the ever cool Sanchez’s beautiful counter right/left sat him down hard, and Sal’s brutal follow up on an already wounded Gomez did even more serious damage - - So much so, that it’s amazing that Gomez lasted for as long as did - while still also being able to score some successful offensives here and there…but then Sal also had that incredible chin as a safety net.
I believe it, he’d been having trouble making the weight for years in his previous division whilst fighting pretty sub par opponents, he never had the best defence and got hurt frequently in his title reign - even in fights against guys who’d just hold there gloves up and let him belt them around, I think that his style devolved very early into to just looking for home runs so he could go back to women and boozing lol Wilfredo Gomez in my estimation judging by the legs was shot by Sanchez.
Gomez was well noted for his lifestyle by that point, he was no Marciano or Hagler, but I doubt he had done any less work than his usual post-Zarate...probably a bit more, even if he clearly arrogantly underestimated Sanchez with his gung-ho approach to the start of the fight. Gomez was starting to fall in love with his power at this stage, and I think that, plus the simple fact he was a bantam-sized fighter moving up to fight a great natural Featherweight were the most important factors. Despite his Knockout record he was never a fighter that consistently blasted and mangled opposition with just raw power, he relied on a combination of heavy hands, meticulous, highly technical form and methodical, slick, slip and counter setup work...and in recent fights he'd been showing increasing signs that he was feeling he could get away without the last part.
His defence and general skills were excellent for a good part of his reign, it wasn't until the last few years it started slipping a few notches imo. True that he could be hurt by single shots that got through, his chin was never up there with his heart.
No not really IMO watching him in against guys who’d should’ve never got the call maybe but most of the time…
Honestly, I never want to hear it when a guy claims he lost a big fight because he didn't train. Love Wilfredo, but that is not an excuse. He got his butt kicked and that is that
What are the fights you have in mind that his skills and defence were bad, or "devolved into just looking for home runs". Been a long time since I watched a bunch of them, so i'm not trying to be smart, It'll give me an excuse to rewatch some, but quite a few are decently fresh in my memory and I wouldn't say any were that bad. Consistency did start to slip in the couple of years leading up to the Sanchez fight, but only in the sense it had become a possible issue when taking on another elite fighter, not as far as looking like a one-dimensional puncher against average challengers...which tbf most of them were, his opposition was often pretty bad for someone so highly regarded, but the Zarate fight was a big enough event to rightfully carry a lot of weight.
Honestly it’d require me to watch Gomez’s title reign and that doesn’t interest me, I’m not being smart when I say that but my impression of him was as a guy who got hit too often and was impatient with his style.