Wilfredo gomez

Wilfredo Gómez (San Juan, October 29, 1956) is a former Puerto Rican boxer. He had a professional record of 44 wins, 3 losses and one draw, with 42 wins by knockout. He was the World Boxing Council super bantamweight world champion from 1977 to 1983. He is considered by many, along with Carlos Ortiz, Esteban de Jesús, Wilfred Benítez, Juan Laporte, Héctor Camacho, Edwin Rosario, Félix Trinidad and Miguel Cotto, the best Puerto Rican boxers. His in-ring nicknames were Bazooka and El Niño de Las Monjas.

Biography

Amateur world champion, title obtained at the World Cup in Cuba in 1974, Gómez was forced to live in Panama for several years, because he could not find opponents in Puerto Rico. He makes his professional debut in Panama, being relegated to a six round draw by Jacinto Fuentes. After that fight, he racked up a total of 32 straight knockout victories, thus entering the exclusive group of boxers with 20 or more knockout wins in a row. His string of consecutive knockouts ranks him third among all boxers in knockout victories, behind only Lamar Park with 44 and Billy Fox with 43. However, among world champions he and Deontay Wilder are the biggest. that they achieved the longest chain of knockouts throughout history, since Park and Fox were not world champions. When Wilder won his World Boxing Council heavyweight (or heavyweight) world title by defeating Bermane Stiverne on points, he could not break the tie with Gómez, in terms of world champions, the longest knockout winning streak in history, which he achieved. in his previous bout, failing to break the record now belonging to him and Gómez.

In 1977, and still in the midst of that chain of knockout victories, the World Boxing Council (WBC) super bantamweight world champion, Dong Kiung Yum of South Korea, traveled to Puerto Rico to defend the world crown before Gomez. Gomez hit the canvas in the first round of this bout, but rallied and knocked out Yem in twelve rounds, crowning himself world champion for the first time.

Gomez successfully defended the title 17 times, all by knockout, setting a world record for consecutive knockout defenses in any division, and also the record for defenses at Super Bantamweight. Among others, he defeated world champions Leo Cruz, Juan Meza, Lupe Pintor and Carlos Zárate. He defeated Zarate in five rounds, and his fight against Pintor, which lasted fourteen rounds, is considered by critics and experts as one of the best fights in history.

On August 21, 1981, Gómez moves up in weight to challenge WBC world featherweight champion Salvador Sánchez. In what many consider the greatest victory by a Mexican over a Puerto Rican in boxing history, Sánchez defeats Gómez by knockout in the eighth round, surprising even bettors in Las Vegas, the host city of the bout, which featured Gómez favorite to win.

Gómez dropped weight immediately, to defend the super-bantamweight crown four more times, hoping that Sánchez would give him a rematch. Said revenge never came, however, since Sánchez died on August 12, 1982, in a car accident on the San Luis Potosí - Querétaro highway. Among his 4 defenses in 1982, the fights against Juan Meza, future world champion, stand out. Super Bantamweight, knocked out in six rounds in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and Lupe Pintor, in a fight that is generally considered among the most emotional and violent bouts in sports history, when Gómez, with injuries to his eyes and cheeks, he managed to defeat the future member of the international boxing hall of fame by knockout in the fourteenth round. While this was happening, Juan Laporte, another Puerto Rican, would be crowned WBC world featherweight champion by conquering the crown vacated by Sánchez's death.

In 1984, Gómez moved up in weight again and challenged Laporte, victorious this time, by unanimous decision in twelve rounds. Having won his second world title, Gomez waited nine months to defend his crown, but lost the title in his first defense, going down in eleven rounds to Ghana's Azumah Nelson.

Gomez began 1985 hoping for a rematch with Nelson or a shot at World Boxing Association (WBA) junior lightweight world champion Rocky Lockridge. Lockridge agreed to fight Gómez, so Gómez gained weight again, and on May 19 of that year, he became the eighth boxer to win three world crowns, as well as being the fourth Latin American and the second Puerto Rican to achieve such a feat., by defeating Lockridge by a close fifteen round split decision.

Just like when he reigned at featherweight, Gómez lost the junior lightweight crown in his first defense, knocked out in nine rounds by Panamanian Alfredo Layne, who was executed by Colombian hitmen in 1999 for being involved in a cocaine transaction in which the agreed shipment was stolen, for which he was tortured and murdered in Panama City.

After two additional victories in 1988 and 1989, Gomez announced his retirement. He later lived in Venezuela and Colombia before returning to his homeland. In 1995 Gomez was elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame. During his period as world super-bantamweight champion, from 1977 to 1983, Gómez managed to be considered a national hero in Puerto Rico, a title that most Puerto Ricans still grant him.