At this point, Gomez but Jai is really talented. I just need to see more of Jai. He is a lot of fun too watch and he has two wins over Breidis who was better than anyone Gomez beat at Cruiserweight. Gomez simply had longevity at CW with his 12 title defences but he didn't unify against Jirov who was the other top CW of his era. I know James Toney had a title shot offer against Gomez but chose to fight Jirov instead.
@AwardedSteak863 is correct that Gomez's resume at Cruiserweight leaves a lot to be desired, but He was very dominant and had a potential to be one of the greatest champions that division ever had. It was difficult for Cruiserweights to unify at that time. Don't think there was any money in it - but World Boxing Super Series style tournament with fighters like Jirov, Gomez, Johnny Nelson, Toney... - I think Mormeck was already around as well - would be just as high level as the tournemnt We got some year later with Usyk, Briedis, Gassiev and Dorticos. Dariusz Michalczewski trained with Gomez and He said that if Gomez trained as hard as him (Dariusz), noone would beat him - and that while people used to say about him liking to party maybe a bit too much, Gomez was on completely another level here as well.
Right on, I remember how good Gomez was even back in the amateurs. The guy could fight and was definitely avoided. No way was Don King letting any of his guys (Mormeck, Braithwright, Bell) anywhere near him. I also remember vividly that James Toney was made a mandatory for Gomez but he didn't take the fight and instead James fought Jason Robinson in an IBF elimination fight which led to his incredible win over Jirov. I fully believe Gomez would have beat James Toney. His style was all wrong for James who was at his best against bangers/swarmers like Jirov. I also remember when Gonez moved up to Heavyweight. He had a decent career at heavyweight but he definitely could have done better given his talent.
I agree on that, yes. Not sure if for Gomez, James would've had to travel to Germany - but either way, Jirov was much better choice in terms of career-management.
That's another thing that really hurt Gomez's career and a lot of Cubans, they are basically a citizen of nowhere. When those guys defect from Cuba, it's tough for them to create a following in another country. I know Gomez defected to Germany and then moved to the US and then back to Germany again. He never was a fan favorite.
Gomez is probably the better, more well schooled boxer, but Opetai has something about him, a will to win, and he’s athletic, fast and powerful and can’t box well himself, some flaws are that he doesn’t pace himself and doesn’t vary the speed of his punches which may leave his attacks more predictable, also if you touch lightly to an area, you can open up somewhere else for a big punch. I’m always tentative to pick or pick against active fighters, I tend to put the prediction on hold or not favour someone heavily at the least.
