Could Wilfredo Gomez ever have beaten Salvador Sanchez

Jones was just too quick and too good imo. The better fighter.

 

And, unfortunately, Sal would have suffered a loss if he fought Alexis, and a couple of other lightweights like Mancini and Boza, had he fought at 135.

 

No, Wilfredo would never beat Sal, too much skill at that weight. Surprised, but maybe smart on his part, that he didn't go after Eusebio.

 

I agree that Alexis might have taken him, but Im not so sure about Mancini. But he never fought above feather and was 23 when he died so we will never know

 

Pedroza would have been a super nasty fight for Gomez. Both Sal & Gomez were WBC Champions, with Don King in the promotion role. Due to "politics" the WBC Champ Gomez and WBA Jr. Featherweight Champs never fought to unite the Title. I think Pedroza would have decisioned Gomez in a wild fight at Featherwt.

 

Late to the discussion. Your comment made me chuckle, Tin_Ribs. Gomez was a pugilistic marvel at 122 - and a dirty cheating borderline sadist at the same time. Pintor's corner ought to have raised hell about Gomez' use of the elbow during their fight. Gomez richly deserved the whipping Sanchez administered. At the same time, to be fair, Gomez displayed great heart and grit surviving that nightmare first round. He never stopped trying.

 

I thought that Wilfredo Bazooka Gomez had a chance based on his one sided victory over knockout king Carlos Zarate on Oct 28 1978 by TKO 5. I figured that Gomez took some shots from Zarate but shook them off. But Salvador Sanchez was the naturally bigger man at 126 lbs and had taken some hard shots from Danny Little Red Lopez in winning the WBC Featherweight Title on Feb 2 1980 by TKO 13. Sanchez size, chin and movement were the factor as he disposed of WBC Super Bantamweight Champion Gomez by TKO 8, breaking the cheekbone of the previously unbeaten Gomez.

 

By saying over and over "if this guy was able to do this, or that guy could do that, then for sure Gomez could", could mean WG wasn't as great as you're making him out to be. He had his moment and got taken apart. I never believed for a second Gomez was out of shape for a fight of that magnitude.

 

No version of Gomez would ever beat Sanchez. Sanchez has him beat in every catagory. Gomez could punch, but not the fighter many make him out to be. People talked about Cotto much the same way, like he was a "legend" or an "ATG", but I never thought much of him either. Gomez, Cotto, and Rosario were all the same type fighter. They could punch, but when going against an A level fighter they got taken apart.

 

It's well documented Gomez had to lose substantial poundage the day of the fight. Perhaps he trained hard and simply miscalculated i am not sure. There was a report he was way over the limit a week out.

One can ignore all this, absolutely, but he did have sizeable problems making weight one way or another.

 

Apart from the first sentence this for me is doing Gomez a gross injustice. Gomez is way above those two and i love Rosario. Gomez had a 32 fight knockout streak going at one point and that included quite a few good fighters all the way to an ATG in Zarate who just happened to be 55-0 with 54 knockouts going into the Gomez bout. It also included multiple future titleists. Even past peak his win over Pintor was one for the ages. He actually had some good wins post Sanchez when on the wane. Going into his fight against Nelson he was 44-1-1 so his consistency had been brilliant to say the least.

Have a look at him in his early peak years before he got power happy. The guys boxing skills were absolutely brilliant and he had plenty of power to back them up. At his finest he's one of the best fighters you will ever see on film.

Losing to the bigger Sanchez is hardly a reputation killer particularly when styles favored Sanchez.

 

Sound post. Gomez is not one of my favourite fighters, because I dislike dirty fighters. I can see, though, that he was truly great. He's a different level to Rosario and (especially) Cotto, both fine fighters.

 

Quality post, sums up my thoughts as well as I could have.

 

I’m gonna say no. Stylistically Gomez played into Sanchez’s hands. He was shorter, with a shorter reach, and Sanchez’s counter punching and boxing ability means he’d make Gomez lead and from there he could pick him apart. Sanchez also had a granite jaw and endless stamina so if he got caught hard he could take it and Gomez was not as affective at 126 as he was at 122.

Gomez, at his absolute peak, was actually great at using angles, moving in & out but due to the dimensions of Sanchez, it’s hard to envisage him sticking to that style as he would have to get inside.

I think Gomez was actually just as talented as Sanchez. If you measure his pure talent and what he looked like at his best this is not crazy to believe. I think he had a more polished technique (than Sal). He also had as much heart as any fighter but Sanchez had talents that aren’t measure on paper, things like his brain, his anticipation, his ability to just flat out win a fight etc; were on a different level to all but a few fighters in history

 

'I think Gomez was just as talented as Sanchez'. I think you're right. Insightful post.