Wilfredo Gomez vs. Naoya Inoue

Whle Ive no doubt Inoue can beat Pintor (Ive never seen Inoue, but letting myself go by what I read about him) , Pintor was far more than a "crude".

He was a versatile fighter who could fight his heart out or outbox you when his skills were needed. He took the best Zarate and Gomez (for 14 rounds) had to offer and those guys are all-time power punchers. He outboxed Jorge Lujan and Juan Meza who also was nearly an all-time power puncher. People were unsure about how a unification with Jeff Chandler who is in the hall of fame too and rightfully so, would have gone. For my taste, Chandler probably takes it but Im not sure. It is one of the best 80s fights that were never made, along with Eusebio Pedroza vs Salvador Sanchez and Sugar Ray Leonard vs Aaron Pryor and Pryor vs Ray Mancini and Roger Mayweather vs Macho Camacho.

And Lupe is loved by all Puerto Rican boxing fans who genuinely care about boxers beyond their boxing career and respected as a boxer and as a human, like Salvador Sanchez and Julio Cesar Chavez also are. (Chavez is not a super nice person in person but most Puerto Ricans havent met him so they dont know that) And I am one of those Puerto Ricans. I vouched for Lupe to be inducted in the International Boxing Hall of Fame for years, writing several letters to Ed Brophy vouching for him, Santos Laciar, Alfredo Escalera, Danny Lopez, Hilario Zaoata ad Marvin Johnson to get in, until Lopez, Pintor and Zapata were finally chosen. Rightfully so.

Inoue can beat Pintor but it would definitely not be easy. He'd know he was in a war.

 

I’ve seen both fighters, and I think Inoue has a superior guard, speed, footwork, power, jab, cross, left hook and body punching. Gomez has better head movement and a better engine.

I think Inoue can win on the outside, and when Gomez sneaks, in that check hook is deadly for a guy who’s as straight forward as Gomez. I think a powerful, rangey counterpuncher with a lot of lateral movement is Inoue’s worst nightmare, while a come forward straight up, pressure fighter is his bread and butter

 

It's a good thing that Gomez at his best wasn't a come forward straight up pressure fighter then. He no doubt devolved somewhat from the Sanchez fight onwards but even then was still a reasonably multi-faceted boxer puncher even when abandoning some of his earlier tools in favour of more basic power punching. That version of him was still more complete than Inoue imo but was faced with the likes of Pintor, Sanchez, Nelson, Lockridge, Laporte etc rather than the mighty Jamie McDonnell while not sidestepping genuinely excellent fighters like Estrada, Gonzalez, SSR etc.

This and Pintor being crude FFS. I swear down that some people's eyes are painted on for decorative purposes.There seems to be a constant need for people to blindly ascribe deity-like characteristics and omnipotence to their favourite fighters while dismissing the obvious qualities of others that are right there to be seen. It's strangely pitiable. I know it's boxing where anything can happen and we all have personal favourites etc, but the fundamentalist lack of objectivity makes me resignedly scratch my head at times.

 

Can you show me some fights where he uses a lot of lateral movement then? I haven’t seen that much of his career

 

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In his best and most famous win for one vs the unbeaten ATG bantamweight stalker Zarate if you want a shorter example as a starting point. A fine display of discliplined multi-directional lateral movement, defensive punch slipping, mobile countering and pivoting away at angles for the first three rounds before knocking Zarate down while moving backwards.

Most of his earlier super bantam work showcases his great footwork and lateral movement, though he was so dominant and superior from an attacking angle that he rarely needed to do it for prolonged periods.

 

He does look a lot better here than vs Sanchez, which is the only fight I had seen him in. I still think he makes some mistakes, but he looks like he has good footwork, smart rhythm traps and he’s pretty fast.
He has a poor guard and doesn’t tuck his elbows in, and at some points he stands in the pocket too long.

I do think it’s a more interesting fight after seeing that.

 

I'm not necessarily a modernista, and I grew up watching Gomez and Pintor fight on Saturdays on various channels. Bazooka was a wonderful, multi faceted boxer puncher; and Lupe was one of my favorite fighters of the perior, and perfect example of a crafty well schooled pressure fighter.

I don't feel at all confident picking either of them over Inoue at 122.

PIntor wasn't the same guy at 122lbs as he was at bantam and I just don't see the slightly battleworn Lupe being able to get inside consistently enough to overcome Inoue's cleaner technique at long and mid range. Same reason why I pick Chandler to beat Pintor in a hypothetical matchup at bantamweight.

I think the version of Inoue who outboxed and then summarily dismissed a versatile, technically adept Fulton could certainly be capable of stopping a fighter who occassionally got dropped and buzzed against guys who don't pass the eye test as easily as Inoue does. If Bazooka fights arrogant (as he sometimes did) he loses against Inoue. Of course, the version of Inoue that got dropped trying to blast out Nery probably loses just as badly to a locked in Gomez.

If they're both at their best, it's anyone's fight, I think.

Anyone thinking it would be easy for either fighter isn't fully familar with either fighter and what they bring to the table when they're at their absolute best.