How much did JC Gomez have left in the tank by the time he moved up to HW and fought Vitali? At the time I thought he was going to put up a much better fight against Klitschko, not win, but at least make a good fight of it and make it close. Was Gomez still a great fighter and close to his Cruiserweight form by the time he fought Klitschko, or was he over the hill by then? Or was he simply there for the paycheck? I’m trying to get a gauge on how good of a fighter Gomez was or could have been at HW. Loved his Cruiserweight career btw.
Well, it wouldn´t matter if he was even in his absolute peak, he was a level below someone like Vitali. I guess you rate him much higher than most. He was fine though, sure. A smaller southpaw like him would be eaten alive by those right hands any day...
I rate him pretty high as a CW yes, but at HW I guess I was hoping for more but not expecting the world from him if that makes sense.
I honestly expected him to be way more successful at heavyweight. I followed him all the way back to the amateurs where he was a top fighter and of course his CW run. I have no doubt that he would have beaten Jirov at CW and I think Toney didn't want any part of him either as Toney turned down a title shot with him at 190. I remember when he made his heavyweight debut against Sam on HBO boxing after dark. He got the win but was not impressive at all and spent most of his heavyweight career fighting in Europe. Definitely had the skills to do more at heavyweight but simply didn't perform when he got the shot.
He was good at heavyweight. He never would've had a chance against Vitali, but showed that he could fight against Vyrches. It's too bad that he hung around the Euro circuit instead of fighting guys like Arreola and Adamek.
