Sanchez vs Gomez expectations

My expectations was the Gomez was a force of nature with the complete package and that he would get Sanchez later in the fight much like he did Pintor and others......little did we know how great Sanchez would prove to be.....a rematch would have been nice but I'm not so sure Gomez wanted anymore

 

Gomez was a 9-5 favorite. Sanchez was pretty highly regarded but not on the level of Gomez who was thought to be not far off being the best fighter on the planet.

Gomez, despite moving up had trouble making the weight. He was supposed to have had to drop 4 pounds the morning of the fight.

 

According to a comment on my article https://imgur.com/gallery/ct6v9 Gomez had been partying with a hollywood starlets before the Sanchez fight. Take it for what its worth.

 

Gomez absolutely craved a rematch. He was devasted when Sanchez was killed.

There's a fascinating story regarding this pair on Wiki too -

Gómez himself also became a dear person to the people of Mexico after this fight. Although they knew him as the Mexican beater because of the many other fights he won against Mexican boxers, Gómez showed no ill feelings towards the people of Mexico by offering Sánchez flowers after Sánchez died, and becoming a frequent visitor to the Sánchez family thereafter. On Sánchez's small town, there is always a festival to commemorate Sánchez's memory every year, around the week of August 12. Gómez has been named Grand Marischal of that festival three times already, and has been a guest of honor the thirty three times it has been celebrated after Sánchez's passing.

 

You are right I almost forgot about all that...I stand corrected Thanks

Gomez got hurt so early I suspect he himself thought it was fluke fight but then again he was beaten pretty thoroughly...his best weight was 122 going to 126 then 130 just those 4-8 lbs really was too much.....as dominant as he was at 122 his getting beaten at 126 like that was an eye opener......and to think Sanchez was only 23 I think of him alot we really missed out on a great fighter hitting his prime and moving up in weight as he matured. I was a huge fan of the Gomez wrecking machine but seeing how poised Sanchez was is something that is extremely rare.

 

This begs the question, how much was weight the factor and how much was Sanchez considerable skill? I in believe Sanchez's considerable skill. I believe Sanchez is the GOAT mexican.

 

Very few wikipedia articles bring a tear to my eye like that one https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Battle_of_the_Little_Giants

 

Good question....Sanchez wasn't flashy but was skilled and had a rarely seen calm cool composure and a super high ring IQ....he was really a kid at 23 his best was yet to come IMO

 

A surviving Sanchez would be top 10 all time IMO. He could do everything. A fearsome creature he was.
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How the weight loss hurt Gomez is open to question. He did hang in and go hard all the way to the end after his early dilemna's. Sanchez tho looked a million bucks. Like you say he was so poised and he just never seemed to tire, ever.

There was a big question on Gomez's ability to perform at 126 after this fight. I would have loved to see him fight Pedroza at some point.

 

Gomez beat Juan Laporte to win the Fwt title, but Laporte had lost his previous non-title fight to a journeyman fighter with a 50% W/L record. Gomez was TKO'ed late to lose his Fwt title to Azumah Nelson, but the scores were very close at the time of stoppage in the 11th rd of the 12 rd fight in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

 

Yeah won it from Laporte then lost it straight up to Nelson which began Nelsons superb run. Gomez was past his best but you get the impression Nelson had him covered in that bout. He'd waited a couple of years for another crack and rose to it.

Nelson was a helluva fighter and i think he gets sold short at times.

 

Azumah Nelson is definitely overlooked these days. A review of his Championship run in both
Feather & Superfeather indicates he would have been very competitive against "anybody" on
the all-time great List.

 

I thought Gomez would take out Salvador in about 10 rounds, I was shocked the way it turned out. I don't know if Wilfredo ever recovered from the early knock down even though he fought bravely after that.