Wilfredo Gomez takes all his skills & power, and goes north 4 lbs going after the "Will of the Wisp" Willie Pep at Featherwt. (Only Sandy Saddler with his power, physical frame, and dirty tactics was able to beat prime Pep convincingly.) Who wins???
It's so hard to pick against Pep at Featherweight so how about a gentlemen's agreement that Pep comes in at no higher than 122 pounds? That means Gomez fights at his best weight and is at his most effective. If it was a pure Featherweight contest, it's Pep who wins, without doubt, but at no higher than 122 it's Bazooka's playground.
Pep lost to Saddler but Sandy was unique. Pep also beat Saddler in a virtuoso boxing performance. Otherwise Willie could handle it all. He beat Chalky Wright for the title. I doubt Gomez could have done so. Not at 26.
Pep was ranked fourth by the ring magazine in `96 as part of a list of the greatest fighters in the last 50 years while Gomez was ranked No.22 in the same list P4P.
Doubtful Pep could make 122 lbs. Pep was basically a 128 lb fighter who was able to make the 126 lb Featherweight limit on fight day. Pep's, at 62-0, first loss was to Sammy Angott in a 10 rd "non-title fight". Since Angott had retired as World Lightweight Champion, there was concern that Pep would have a claim to the lightweight crown if he defeated Angott over fifteen rounds. 943-03-19 : Willie Pep 130¼ lbs lost to Sammy Angott 134½ lbs by UD in round 10 of 10 Location: Madison Square Garden, New York, New York, USA Referee: Billy Cavanaugh 4-5 Judge: Bill Healy 4-5 Judge: Joe Agnello 4-6 Photo #2, Photo #3 Notes Pep entered this non-title bout as the reigning lineal and NYSAC World Featherweight Champion. Pep was a 3-1 betting favorite. Pep had a professional record of 62-0. This was Angott's first fight after a brief retirement. On November 13, 1942, Angott retired as the Undisputed World Lightweight Champion due to a broken right hand that failed to heal properly. There were stories that Angott was forced to retire because he refused to do business with organized crime, but he and his manager vehemently denied those rumors. Angott announced his return to boxing on January 8, 1943, saying that his hand had "healed again." Promoter Mike Jacobs originally scheduled the fight for fifteen rounds, but it was reduced to ten rounds at the insistence of the New York State Athletic Commission. Since Angott had retired as World Lightweight Champion, there was concern that Pep would have a claim to the lightweight crown if he defeated Angott over fifteen rounds. The Associated Press reported: It was a new Sammy to a near-capacity house at the Garden as he pushed in with swinging hooks through the first five rounds, beat Wee Willie, the New York-recognized featherweight champion, to the punch repeatedly, and piled up too big an edge for the New Englander to overcome. At the finish, the Associated Press card voted five rounds to Angott, three to Pep and two even. Although the crowd of 16,834 was the smallest in several weeks, This content is protected boosted the gate to $70,860, one of the better cash returns of the season. There's no doubt that Sammy was tiring from the seventh round on and that there might have been a different story to tell if the fight had gone 15 rounds, as it was originally scheduled. The United Press reported: Angott, who retired as 135-pound ruler in November because of bad hands, was equipped with two good fists last night, and he kept them so busy that he won six rounds on the United Press score sheet, while Pep won three and one was even. It was a rough, entertaining brawl in which there were no outright knockdowns, although both slipped to the canvas in the seventh session after missing blows, and Angott was on the deck twice in the eighth because of a slip and a defensive spin that followed a punch. Angott suffered a gashed upper left eyelid in the fifth round when their heads came together, and Pep's right cheek was puffed up like a balloon from innumerable left hooks. Angott took command of the bout at the first bell and won four of the first five rounds, the fourth going to Willie. They fought on even terms in the sixth. Then Pep lifted the pace and won the seventh and eighth. Entering the ninth, it appeared that 20-year-old Pep's youth, speed and stamina would pull victory out of the fire. But in that ninth session Angott wrapped up victory by jack-knifing his lighter opponent with a left hook to the body and following with a barrage of hooks to the head. Pep fought desperately in the tenth, but blows to the midriff in the ninth left him so weakened that Angott won that session and the fight.
Thanks so much for this one LH,..I'm especially fascinated by fights where a "0" gets stolen, and particularly this one
Me too. There is so much boxing history out there that needs to be "rediscovered". Especially the 40's / early 50's stuff that is kinda under the radar, since it had very little TV coverage, so radio, newspapers, & live attendance was the way the Boxing Sport was covered.
Gomez was a Helluva fighter at 122. Willie was just so damn consistent. Without Gomez being very awkward or tall I dont see Pep being forced to do anything different. It's probably a Pep paint job.
