Who was capable of beating Wilfredo Gomez at 122?

Tough question...but I'll throw out Morales, Barrera, and Fenech...If Pintor could give Gomez a good fight then these three would too...and they might beat Gomez IMO...But a prime Gomez would be the favorite.

 

I'll make this one short and simple,....NO ONE!!!!

 

how about rafa marquez or wilfredo vasquez?

 

Marquez doesn`t have the chin to last against Wilfredo, and Vazquez can only block so many punches with his face before succumbing... I guess you can say that I don`t fancy their chances!

As for Jofre and Olivares, I`d make them the favourites over Gomez. Ortiz and Brown would be no less than even money with the Puerto Rican either, 50/50 fight against either man. Gomez was a terror at 122 that is true, but who did he face there who was worth a damn besides Zarate who never showed he could move up and compete succesfully?

Guys like Jofre, Olivares, Ortiz and Brown all fought and defeated fighters at higher weights and were succesful, and coupled with the fact that each of these men were outstanding fighters in their own right and Gomez has a hard nights work against any of these guys.

 

A prime Tim Austin would be a good bet to give Gomez a tussle. Tall, rangy, powerful, and can box.

 

Jeff Chandler might have the style to defeat Gomez. based on the succesful style that Sanchez used against him. Good boxing ability and stinging punches. If this is the blueprint to be succesful against Gomez. Morales has a similar style to Chandler. Barrera would be too brave for his own good and most likely get caught & Gomez was an awesome finisher.

 

Jeff Fenech. Fenech could not be intimidated and could thrash a variety of styles. His mauling pressuring style might smother Gomez's punches for power substancially is Fenech is able to impose his preferred distance on Wilfredo. Gomez was never mauled or outmuscled in the way he might be vs Fenech. It would be interesting to see how it affected him. The question for Fenech is can he take or diffuse Gomez's incredible offence whilst coming in. This fight would be an absolute war.

 

Not sure I'd favour anyone to beat him at 122, but I'd give quite a few fighters a chance of beating him:

Eder Jofre
Fighting Harada
Ruben Olivares
Erik Morales
Manny Pacquiao
Marco Antonio Barrera
Jeff Fenech

And a couple of oldies:
Terry McGovern
Owen Moran
Abe Attell
Jimmy McLarnin

Best chance would probably be Jofre if he moved up a couple of years before he faced Harada.

Someone like a McGovern might have a shot if he can lure Gomez into a slugfest too.

 

Very few indeed, though a few would stand a very good chance:

Fenech
Barrera
Morales

 

Jeff Fenech is probably the best chance.

 

Okay, if ANYONE could have moved up to 122 and possibly defeated Gomez, it would have been Jofre. That, I'll admit, is a matchup I've never considered. All I can say about Gomez besides just repeating superlatives, is to just point to his fight with Zarate. Zarate was a big bantam, and had moved up just 4 pounds, and was considered the ultimate monster of bantamweight champions, and proved it by destroying Zamora just previously, so no one can denigrate or find fault with Zarate. Gomez, when he fought Zarate was close to perfection, if not actually perfect. That performance, in all of boxing history, was hard to beat.

 

The Gomez of the Zarate fight would have destroyed Fenech. He would have caught Fenech flush with so many really hard shots, and would have been so fast moving around his man to be able to tee off, and with so much ferocity that you'd see the same result as when Azumah Nelson fought Jeff.

 

What do you make of all the talk about Zarate being sick in that fight? Personally i hate trying to sift thru boxers , excuses and validity.