Alexis Arguello vs Wilfredo Gomez @ Featherweight

Entertaining and brutal bout that has a lot of fireworks. Bombs away until one or both hit the deck. Probably Arguello has a tougher time than folks think, but he ultimately wins by KO. The thing most folks forget was that Sanchez was a boxer-puncher who hit and moved. Arguello didn't really move. He'd be right there to get hit. So style-wise, it's a bit of a different fight. But yeah, I don't see Gomez lasting the distance with Arguello's relentless nonstop attack. But I do see Gomez nailing him pretty good here and there to make it a fun fight.

 

I urge you to take a closer look. Valdez wasn’t a terrible challenger by record (but certainly not the cream of the crop at 122) but you have to consider that Wilfredo cleaned that division out, basically, two or three times over. You beat everybody there is to beat and you have a title to defend … gotta defend it against somebody.

Bazooka beat five other men who held titles at 122 pounds either before or after him — including three who went on to claim a title after he beat them when he had vacated the division. He is, imo, the best ever at super bantam but he also was the best for a stretch that shadows both before he formally won the title and for some years after as his leftovers showed they were good enough to win a title at that weight when he wasn’t around to do something about it.

On to the Arguello-Gomez topic:

It’s an interesting fight because 126 is neither man’s best weight. Alexis was at his best imo at 130 and Gomez of course was far better at 122, with only middling success at 126.

Alexis wasn’t quite as sturdy at feather as he was at 130 and 135, I think, and he wasn’t prolific at 126 either with far more non-title fights (mostly vs lower-tier opponents) than title defenses.

But I still have to favor the Explosive Thin Man here with the reach and being a naturally bigger guy. Gomez gives him some problems but Wilfredo didn’t carry that numbing power up from 122 so AA shakes it off and probably wins by TKO when he closes one or both of Gomez’s eyes with his surgeon’s precision punching.

An interesting exercise is to pit them at 122. Alexis only weighed a quarter pound heavier when he lost to Ernesto Marcel, and I think Gomez overwhelms a still-coltish Alexis at this weight. AA is taller here but a bit too thin and less strong/powerful. He lands his share but can’t keep Gomez off him and gets stopped late is how I’d see it at super bantam.

Frankly I’m not sure anyone at 122 in history beats Gomez at that weight. He was as dominant, as supreme, there as anyone in any single weight class ever.