Im just going to say Nah self.. The best way to illustrate my point if an ancient Zaragoza can give Erik that tough a fight with inferior boxing skill to Gomez, if Espadas, Chi and Barrera can damage Erik that badly with inferior power and offensive capability to Gomez then I cant really see an arguement for Morales in this one. Especially when Wilfredo displayed a much more impressive run of dominance at the weight..perhaps the greatest of alltime at the limit. I also think just because someone says that Gomez stops Morales brutally..its isnt neccesarily having a dig at Erik. When Wilfredo won fights..he did so brutally, in fact he had a 100% KO rate at 122. As tough as Erik is, no one else could take Gomez's power at 122. Over 15 rounds, I dont think Morales is the exception.
I see Morales vs. Gomez as a slightly more competitive version of Zarate vs. Gomez. Allowing Morales to lead, Gomez's exceptional footwork would win him the fight early. I can't imagine Morales chasing Gomez and doing anything good to be honest, Gomez would be skipping round the ring, darting in and out, being cagey, would wait for his moment to strike and then, with accurate shots (with either fist) would rock Morales. Morales WAS rocked at 122, no? By Barrera no less who is nowhere near as hard/varied a puncher as Gomez. Once he had him rocked, there would be no way back for El Terrible. Gomez was one of the greatest finishers of all time, and even if he didn't spark Morales completely, the beatdown that would follow would have Morales looking at his Dad to stop the fight.
Morales was rocked at 122lb, by a much more varied puncher than Wilfredo Gomez. Marco threw every punch in the book during his days at 122, and often in clusters of 4-5. There has not been one peice of video presented in this thread yet to to show Wilfredo putting together a text book 4 punch combination, both to the body and head, something that made Marco back in the day. I say Wilfredo hit harder, but Marco had more variety. I'll believe this until I see otherwise. I think Morales had a hell of a chin, he proved it throughout his career, and he would have enough will and determination to get through tough times against Wilfredo. He had trouble with Barrera because his opponent had so much variety in his offensive arsenal, and had faster hands than Gomez, so I don't see him taking as much punishment in this fight.
I really dont think it was the combination of punches that did the hurting from Barerra..it was usually the last punch that punctuated it that had Morales reeling. I cant see how a couple of pitter patter shots the set that up is any better than the pontentially fight stoppping punch Gomez could often lead with and which was generally followed up by 2 or 3 more anyway. I mean Sweet Pea had more variety than the both of them, and was better at putting him combos together. Doesnt mean he was anymore a lethal puncher.
Morales usually does not get stunned by single shots, it was combination's that caught his attention. He is hurt on three separate occasions in round 9, and they were all from 3-4 punch combination's. If Marco didn't display such a variety in his offense, he wouldn't have been as nearly as successful as he was, so it's important to credit him for it. Again, you should probably go re-watch their first fight. They weren't pitter patter punches. Even during Marco's days as a rising star, way before his first losses to jones, he was credited as having heavy hands. Mckinney said about Marco, "He doesn't have lights out power, but every punch he throws is hard". Barrera didn't throw pitter patter punches. There is no argument from me that Gomez was a more lethal puncher. How can that be disputed? What I am saying is, it's important to always keep all of these discussions in perspective. Gomez was better than Barrera at 122lb, but his combination punching was not. This is no shame, looking back at Marco's fights at that weight, a case can be made for him having one of the greatest offensive arsenals of the last 25 years. As for Sweet Pea being a better combination puncher that Marco, I think Marco threw a lot more deadly combinations than Sweet Pea, who was more defensive minded than Super Bantam MAB. That said, when Sweet Pea wanted to open up, he threw some of the fastest and most beautiful combinations of recent times. No argument.
Marco did throw pitter pat combinations from time to time..that fight was probably not an example of it I have to admit. He nearly always put a hard punch at the end of it anyways. We will have to agree to disagree self...I just feel Gomez's overall offensive ability is better, not just his power but his kit of punches, his footwork in getting into attacking position and his aggressive style. He is probably the better technician also and he had just about every punch in the book aswell. How they went about it was different but I dont think Barrera's style was any more effective then Gomez's in getting the end result.
I base my opinion on video footage, and looking at the two is like night and day. I think Gomez was workman like, and didn't need to land as consecutively as Marco to get the job done because of his frightening power as a Super Bantamweight. Marco threw better combination's, probably some of the best during the 90s, it was his biggest strength. We'll agree to disagree. Unless you show me footage of Gomez putting together better combination's. I would happily concede defeat if this was brought forward.
Im not really trying to say he does, they did things differently...but I think he put his punches together just aswell, perhaps not in such eye catching way but as effective as Barrera, if not more so. I dont know if these have been put up before..Ill put them up anyway. [YT]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDMgHtoJqZ4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iS0gDrDsBlc&feature=related[YT] You notice how good a counter puncher Gomez was..He tended to prefer threading his hard single or double shots through the defenses of his opponants rather than throwing flurries..The important thing to note I feel is that he often followed it up with an almost non-stop barrage..Whereas Marco tended to almost sit back and admire his own work. This is why I think Gomez is more effective in this respect, as his record showed he put guys away after hurting them. Not always straight away but in the end he would and often once they were badly hurt he would never ever let them off the hook. Marco was a little more reserved in his approach, despite hurting Morales several times in that fight I dont think he followed it up enough to sustain long spells of dominance. I always think he almost laboured to put McKinney, Ayala and Maguna away, despite having them close to going earlier in their fights. Im not trying the convince you that Gomez is the combo puncher that Marco is..But using his own style and attributes I consider him the more potent offensive fighter.
Very, very good post. I can't get how anyone could dispute Gomez's talent, and in terms of combinations he was lethal. Although not 'Prime' post-Sanchez, the Pintor fight is a good example of hsi combination punches. The last round (14th I believe) Gomez shows me why Barrera, Morales et al would stand no chance against him.
I also can't understand why anybody would dispute Gomez's talent. He was lethal, but Marco threw better combination's.
Anyone who knows me on here knows I dont have a lot of time for Barrera.... but if anyone ever left him or his best bud Erik off a top 100 list... they should be locked in a dark room with 74 giant tarantula`s because THEY are whats wrong with the world. Angola :fire