Wilfredo Gomez

Gomez could literally do it all. A simply great fighter. Tremendous power, won virtually every fight by KO until his own first loss to Salvador Sanchez when he moved up in weight--after about 40 fights!

Moved better on his feet, and looked better doing it, than maybe any fighter who ever lived. Pep and Ali might be comparable, but Gomez could take a half-step or a full step and be right in your face, then another half-step and be completely safe from a return shot. Vs. Derrick Holmes might be the best example.

View a very hard-to-find CBS broadcast from 1979 of Gomez beating Julio Hernandez. Gil Clancy as commentator is literally going crazy while touting all of Gomez's substantial talents. Gil was never so excited and animated.

Sugar Ray Leonard credited Gomez as his model for the left hook/uppercut that he hurt Tommy Hearns with the first time (rd. 6) in their first fight in 1981.

And please, nobody here who likes Duran should complain that Gomez was dirty. He was, from time to time, but he was virtually a perfect fighter without doing any of that.

 

Good post A.J.

Gomez for a spell was considered the best fighter in the world. That said, I always felt he was pretty much prime when Sanchez beat him. No excuses from me there...Sanchez was great.

 

Thanks, Fists of Fury.

Yours, too.

Gomez was in his prime when he met Sanchez, true. But besides Salvador being a great fighter, it was, after all, a step-up in weight (and thus strength) for Wilfredo, and Gomez had never been manhandled like that, not to mention the better power Salvador had in comparison to Gomez's other opponents.

Truly, Gomez on his best day from the Sanchez fight on (at 126), never looked so good as in his first 40 fights at 122.

 

Yeah, agreed. At 122 he was just in a class of his own, prior to Sanchez. I thought it was still a good performance against Sanchez though; he showed genuine heart and grit in the face of adversity, which the Pintor fight aside, he never really had to show before, being so dominant.

Funnily enough, it's one of my favourite Gomez fights...just because of the way he was able to come back into the fight after being dropped and rocked in the first.
If memory serves, it was still quite a close fight on the cards going into the 8th...

 

Has anyone got subtitles for Gomez's documentary on Youtube? It looks interesting, but it's in Spanish.

 

Don't know if there are any subtitles for it but I've seen it, really good and candid.

 

Great educated left hand and excellent movement.

Great performance.

Gomez at his most arrogant.

He toyed with Hernandez from the beginning and laughed at his shots.

It's not surprising Clancy was impressed - Gomez looked levels above his adversary.

Wonder what Clancy thought of Sanchez-Gomez fight?

 

Im so desperate to watch that im considering learning spanish

 

First let me start by saying that Gomez is an all time great fighter. One of the greatest punchers of all time, could skip punches very well, and had a truckload of heart. However...

You know how a lot of times we (deservedly) criticize Ricardo Lopez for dominating a made up weight class. Had Lopez.been born 30 years earlier all those physical advantages he possessed would be tempered by fighting at flyweight. In a lot of ways Gomez benefited from that. Had he been around before there was a junior feather we would remember him totally differently. He was too big to make 118 consistently, and at feather, and above his punch was not devastating rather just good. He still would have been great. But not as great.

 

Esto bien komo el culo negro

 

Here's a name from the past.

Derrick Holmes.

In the Amateurs, in 1973 ......at age 18,

He scored 'Knock-outs' over both (17 year-old) Wilfredo Gomez and
and (15 year-old) Wilfred Benetiz in 1973 at the (-54 Kg) 119 lb. Bantamweight Level.

 

Gomez was so superior to his opposition at 122..and coupled with the fact that he was a bit of a sadist to boot...his bouts are nevertheless a peasure for me to watch. I'm talking about his defenses at 122. He was an unstoppable force at 122. He was swept up in that Puerto Rico vd Mexico fervor in the Zarate bout.. he was uncontrollable. There he was, destroying that reigning bantam terror, Zarate, and the pride of his country was behind him..he did everything in his power to decimate Zarate. If he had been dq'ed, a legend, bigger than Gomez himself, would have been created,

 

Gomez was a MONSTER at 122....as much as I am a traditionalist in regards to the classic weight divisions...Gomez's prowess at 122 is a very effective argument for the junior divisions...as is all the greats that found a home in the junior welter division....but that's another story for another thread.

 

I don't agree cobra

Gomez to me was a bantamweight in dimensions and one without the dedication to keep making weight so he went for a slight step up that could accomodate those well reported increasingly lax training habits.Or maybe he just took the first title shot available, but he could easily have moved back down to Bantam.

There's no doubt had Gomez fought and conquered the deeper Bantam class during his time he would be higher regarded than he is.

The fact he was really just a Bantam in size is one of the main reasons why 126 was tough for him.He was smaller than boiled down guys like Barrera, Fenech and Morales at 122.