Both exceptional Super Bantamweights, Gomez being the greatest to have ever campaigned at 122lbs by a distance, and the two would eventually move up to the 126lbs division. I saw on a thread earlier that Gomez scraped onto the top 10 Featherweights of the century list, and considering he wasn't as successful as Marco in moving up, I kind of have a problem with it I guess. I consider Barrera to have been the better Featherweight as he achieved more in beating unbeaten Naseem Hamed and unbeaten Erik Morales as a Featherweight. He also put on a dazzling display against fringe contender, Enrique Sanchez, and saw off experienced campaigners Johnny Tapia and Kevin Kelley. It's true that Barrera would be easily dispatched of by Manny Pacquiao, but that doesn't undo everything he achieved at the weight before it. Likewise, Gomez had uber strong opposition to contend with in Sanchez and Nelson, but this still doesn't change the fact Barrera was more successful at the weight, and beat great fighters that were around during his era. I think Barrera was the better Featherweight, what do you think?
I agree, Barrera has an edge at 126, Gomez was better a weight below no doubt tho. Ps. I voted for Barrera, you`ll just have to take my word for it tho because you have commited the crime of doing a hidden poll :-( :good
What could it have been, 4 lbs, I mean 4 POUNDS (?) that kept Gomez from being the same terror at featherweight that he was at junior bantam? I don't think it was the additional 4 lbs that made the difference, I just think that Gomez's overall skills underwent a slight precipitous decline after about 1979-80 or so. I believe that if Gomez had ventured up to featherweight right after the Zarate blowout he would have annexed the 126 lb title from Danny Lopez..I mean as much as I dug Danny Lopez, and I was a huge fan of his, Wilfredo Gomez was a fighter from Mars when it came to his abilities relative to other fighters. I believe he would have stopped Danny and relieved him of the title...a knockdown would have been followed up with a lethal flurry that none of Lopez's other challengers were unable to muster. Of course, Gomez's decline was accompanied by an overconfidence and loss of focus and resolve that of course, against Sal Sanchez, was a fatal mixture that led to his humiliating 1981 defeat. I guess it was basically a slip down to the level of ordinary mortal fighters for Gomez by the time the 70's came to an end, even before he officially ventured into 126 lb territory. Barrera, on the other hand was, in my opinion the stellar featherweight champion of recent years and was of course more proven at that weight than Gomez. I would have to say, based on comparitive facts of both men at the featherweight limit that MAB was superior and would have won, that is the disciplined, classic boxing MAB that so soundly thrashed Hamed. It would be interesting to speculate how Gomez would have fared if he had made the move up to featherweight a few years earlier than he did, and had not been so busy feasting on those poor 122 lb guys. I think Gomez was one of the greatest total package fighters of all time, and I think he quite possibly could have been even better had he been able to keep his momentum from the 70's going a bit longer and had knocked at Danny Lopez's door in '79 perhaps.
Well lets be honest he only had to turn up to beat [url]Juan La Porte[/url] because La Porte did nothing in the fight. Nelson, Sanchez smashed him, then hen he stepped up to 130 to fight [url]Rocky Lockridge[/url] and he was extremely lucky to win the fight. Barrera is by some distance a better Featherweight than Gomez.
