Wilfredo Gomez Appreciation Thread

Twenty plus years ago I wanted to learn more about Gomez so I bought videos of several of his fights. I don't remember if I selected them from the list of what the guy I bought from had for sale or if he recommended them; we often talked boxing over the phone and he suggested many fights to me.
In almost every fight I saw, Gomez got hit easily and had problems with his legs recovering after he got hit and that has always clouded my opinion of him.
After watching some of the video in the OP I figure that I either managed to pick every fight where he had problems making weight or the guy that picked them for me didn't like Gomez.
Very different fighter.

 

First time I saw Gomez was the Sanchez fight. Second fight I saw of him was the Nelson fight. So you might imagine, at first I didn't see the hype.

I said, "This is the guy who's supposed to be better than Trinidad???"

But you get to watching his peak fights, when he used his full toolbox, and you start to "get" it.

 

First Gomez fight I saw was Pintor. I saw the offensive ability, but not the footwork or the full defensive capabilities.

 

I didn't see the Pintor fight until after the Zarate fight - that was the first Gomez win I watched.

But it had to be put into perspective, because at that time I didn't understand how good Zarate was - I had only heard the legend.

And lemme remind you, this is all pre-YT... so it's, "Lemme go on my connect's website and see what Zarate fights he has available to order. Oh, he has the Zamora fight, I've heard about this one. Lemme order it."

Ahhh man, YouTube might be THE BEST thing to ever happen to boxing fans.

 

Absolutely.

I hope when some dusty old guy dies, Moore vs Charles 1-3 gets uploaded.

 

Website?
When I started buying tapes, I wrote the guy a letter and he mailed me a list. After I bought a few 3 hour tapes he mailed me his phone number.

 

In a dream world, someone could (literally) pull Jofre's full prime from the ashes.

 

Damn!

No, my guy a website. This was around 99-03 when I REALLY REALLY loaded up on tapes.

But it was pre-PayPal (in the beginning), so we're talking about mailing him payments and waiting until the money order arrives before he starts the tapes.

Whole process took about 3 weeks from me putting in the order, to getting the fights. Sometimes it took a month.

 

Since we're on the topic of footage...... (nice how smoothly I interjected that, right?) what would either of you say is Chris John's most entertaining fight?

He's up next on "Project McGrain" (I fuckin love that name ) and the only fight I've ever seen from him is Marquez.

 

Also, anyone wanna score Legra vs Jofre with me? Legra is after John, and it's the only main fight from him which is filmed that I've not seen. I've seen Fammo, Winstone II, and I've seen bits and pieces of the Saldivar fight.

 

I thought Legra was robbed blind against Fammo. I didn't score it, but trust me, Legra won clearly.

But sure, give me until tonight to score Legra-Jofre.

 

If I had to describe Gomez the boxer with one word it would be: "violent."

Some things I noticed watching him recently:

His body attack was savage. He threw uppercuts to the body that must have been devastating.

He wasn't a guy with a well rehearsed repretoire. He was more scratch and sniff to borrow a phrase from Lampley.

He had really good timing. When he got a guy on the defensive moving his head, he could still tag him.

 

I agree, man. Absolute piss take that decision.

Will do. My part of the UK goes back in lockdown tonight, so looks like I'm not doing any shit tomorrow now

Can watch Ioka-Tanaka live after all.

 

No lockdowns here, but New Jersey is one of the US states with the strictest mask wearing protocols, and I forget mine at home all the fucking time.

I pick up my kid from his mother's place tomorrow, so tonight is the last night of the week I have an abundance of time to watch fights.

 

It is debatable if Inoue is better than Hasegawa and prime Tatsuyoshi, let alone Gomez. Let's just appreciate fighters for what they are.

 

So, I'm guessing you wouldn't take him over Jiro at 115? LOL.

BTW, I do feel that Inoue is better than Tatsuyoshi, but that would be one helluva fight!

 

Kawashima would be a handful for Inoue, skillwise, but probably doesn't have the chin to handle Inoue's considerable power.

I do think Inoue KO's Tokuyama.

 

Later on is fine for me, but only in a couple hours or so. I'm gonna do an RBR. Always loved those.

 

Onizuka vs Inoue would be a damned war at 115lbs! At 118lbs, I pick both Hasegawa and Tatsuyoshi over him.

 

I think Inoue KOs both tbh.

One's too hittable, the other's too chinny.

 

i think inoue would beat joichiro tatsuyoshi within a inch of his life.

 

It's great to see all this discussion about Wilfredo Gomez

 

Yeah, I am with George here.

I think Inoue beats all the guys we've mentioned here except for Watanabe - who likely takes him apart.

I definitely can't see Onizuka doing it.

Even old Donaire would stop Onizuka.

 

You've just made a fanboy mad.

 

Oh yeah, I agree. Would be a war whilst it lasted though.

 

I'd say Inoue is a live underdog vs Jiro. Watanabe could be hit clean, and he was aggressive. Inoue is great at timing southpaws and knows exactly how to set them up. If Inoue's power and sharp shooting led to a win over Jiro, I wouldn't be surprised.

 

This is the point though - Inoue matches up well against some very good Japanese champions...





Not against one of the best fighters who ever lived.

 

DH: What kind of payday drew you to San Juan, Puerto Rico in mid-’76 to fight undefeated Wilfredo Gomez?

Alberto Davila: Believe me (laughing), it wasn’t the payday. It was strictly for the opportunity. Gomez had such a name for himself that I wanted a crack at him. But let me tell you what went on at the weigh-in. I weigh in fully clothed at 117. He is stark naked and they announce him at 122 and then he quickly grabs a cup of something and downs it before we can even look at the scale. This way he doesn’t have to weigh in again. I have no idea what he actually weighed. As for the fight, after the first round I thought to myself, “I’m in for a long night!” My back muscles were sore after that fight from having to keep moving because he could really hit. The fight was stopped in his favor in the 9th, but at least he knew I was there, because I left his face unrecognisable.

Touching Gloves with…Albert Davila - The CBZ Newswire

 

I think he took too many shots in there.

As I recall, Gomez destroyed him with little trouble.