Jorge Luis Gonzalez

if you ever saw the couser fight he was either rocked or knocked down(several knock downs in that fight) by about every punch couser threw...i think he had a weak chin(only fight ive seen of his)

 

He was a great amateur, but never cut it out that much as a pro. Maybe he was stuck too much in the amateur style?

I saw 3 fights with him. His beating of Snipes, getting brutalized by Bowe, and stopped by an old Spoon.

 

AAAAAAAhhh.. Jorge Luis Gonzales... A very good heavyweight to be truthful. He once beat Lennox Lewis and Riddick Bowe at the same amateur tournament.

He was more adept for the pro's.. He turned pro fighting a lot of no names and blown up cruiserweights but soon ran up a list of victories without a loss. In 1994 when the new MGM Grande was in its fledgling year boxing wise a man was appointed as boxing head of operations, his name was Dennis Frinfrock. He signed Jorge as the MGM's house heavyweight feature, Jorge lived on the premises on South Strip Las Vegas and would feature on the cards however large or small until he became big noise.. He would strut around the casino and i often ran into him and he was very friendly , shaking hands and doing a great PR job for the Boxing cum Casino Umbrella.. Frinfrock would champion Jorge and another (fresh out of Jail heavyweight called Johnathan Grant.. a 300lb'er who never made it) Jorge started to make appealing waves on the Bowe v Holyfield 2 undercard when he completely dominated and stopped Renaldo Snipes at Caesars palace... It started to set up a grudge thing with Riddick Bowe.. Jorge then appeared on an MGM show alongside Bowe when Riddick hammered Herbie Hide to arrest the WBO crown , beating Brian BAM BAM Scott in a round.... Eventually it was bound to happen, Frinfrock goaded Bowe into meeting the unbeaten Jorge at the MGM for the WBO crown in a very heated grudge match where one incident after another led to the imfamous Perspex divider press conference brought by an offensive move made by both camps at a early pr event where a wine glass was smashed and thrown at Bowe.. The stunt was seen by millions and the fight was Hyped into more than it really was. Bowe appeared without Futch for the first time in his career because of a split about Bowes eating problems and a lack of self discipline. Jorge for all of his size was demolished haplessly by a ferocious Bowe and it put paid to the giant mans hype machine. Frinfrock (a moustached character) had a wager with Rock Newman about the bouts outcome and he said he would cut off his trademark handlebar moustache if Jorge lost by any means.. Frinfrock did stand by his word and also was removed as head of boxing operations a year later , as too was Jorge as MGM house fighter. A few years later Gonzales was signed as a guest fighter by Alladdin hotel right down the street but was let go soon after when he pulled out of a couple of shows at last minute due to (Cold flu etc..) excuses.. Jorge started to decline , he lost on the Lewis v Mercer BIG SHOW at MSG when he was knocked out by Timmy Witherspoon, but lost to another name on a major fight card at Ballys to another rising star Michael Grant by 2nd round KO.. formidably that was the end of Jorges career on the big name circuit.. he lost to several names after that but it was then that he realised it was all over.. Jorge still lives in Vegas and is at 6 FT 6 a massive imposing man, but as gentle as you could ever wish to meet.. I spoke to him last year and he is very skinny (lean) but wore his trademark cowboy boots and panama het , ever the great pantomime giant..

God bless....

 

he never went anywhere, but i for one think he was very unlucky.

first, he turned pro too late. and he never adjusted his style (due to him being arrogant).

but i always believed he was thrown to the wolves! he was unbeaten as a pro when he faced bowe, but his management never gave him any opponents from which he could have learned.

AND then they threw him in with the number one heavyweight ( at the time on the planet) in riddick bowe.
Bowe was still close to his prime and just one fight away from knocking out EVANDER HOLYFIELD in eight rounds.

sure, gonzales was knocked out in six rounds..........but how many of todays heavyweights would even last six rounds with bowe???

and right after that, he was thrown in with tim witherspoon, who was ranked in the top ten at that time.

both these knockouts permanently damaged gonzales. he was shot after that.

so what im saying is that maybe gonzales was not a great pro, but he had lots of bad luck to go along.

had he been built up in a better manner, had he fought in todays era, i think he would have done much better.

maybe he wouldnt have won a title either.

but given his size and power alone, who says he wouldnt have at least had a solid shot at winning a title??

hey, guys like maskaev, corrie sanders and rahman did so. i would have given gonzales a solid chance against all.

 

Nice story, thanks for sharing :thumbsup

 

Good story, and interesting to know that Gonzalez is apparently much different outside the ring.

He was an easy guy to hate in the ring, especially with the Snipes fight. I enjoyed watching him get whupped.

 

"Some people have bad hair days. Jorge Luis Gonzalez is having a bad hair life"- Larry Merchant

 

one incident i do remember was before the highly advertised Bowe fight, Jorge was in the MGM foyer walking into the casino.. at the same time new kid on the scene , fresh faced Shannon Briggs was also in the area with Manager Mike Marley, Shannon approached Gonzales, in a show of good will, he outstretched his hand to shake Jorges in an attempt to wish him good luck.. But before he got there Gonzales determined that Shannon was from Brooklyn as was Bowe and it was an intimidation attempt.. Jorge slaped Shannon hard and said in not so many words you don't start getting fresh.. Later at a press conference both men met prior to the war of words , when Bowe was waiting to enter the press room Gonzales came by and smiled , he looked up and down Bowe and smirked , he jabbed gently at his stomach and said something to a latino member of the press, they laughed quietly, thinking Jorge was paying him a compliment about his trim condition (of sorts, but still kinda fleshy) Bowe said smiling, thankyou Jorge , you a good man.. Later Bowe became enraged on learning that when he jabbed at Bowes stomach he actually said to the press man in spanish (He looks ****ing pregnant still)

 

Fell appart badly after the Bowe fight.

 

Mate I don usually post on here, I more of a lurker, but I just want to say that was a great informative peice you wrote.

Thanks for that.

 

Audley would destroy him.

 

thanks for sharing!