Wilfredo Gomez
Titles: WBC jr. featherweight champion 1977-1983, WBC featherweight
champion 1984, WBC jr. lightweight champion 1985-1986
Record: 44-3-1
Born: October 29, 1956 in Las Monjas, Puerto Rico
Years active: 1974-1989
Nickname: Bazooka
Gomez combined exquisite boxing skills with bone ratteling power in both
hands, a triple crown champion most people think Gomez peaked during his
record setting reign at 122 pounds. Before his reign of terror in the pro's
Gomez was considered a prodigy in Puerto Rico wining world amateur titles
in 1974 before deciding to skip the 1976 Olympics and turn pro. As a pro he
had to overcome a draw in his first fight to at one time have a streak of
32 consecutive knockouts, one of those knockout victims was Jacinto Fuentes
who held him to a draw in his first fight. It was his power made him popular
the world over. At the start of his career Gomez boxed in Panama City and
San Juan where he earned the reputation that would lead to a title shot. In
his 17th fight Gomez had to overcome a big knockdown at the hands of the
very good Dong-Kyung Yum. Yum was a fine champion and many thought he might
hand Gomez his first defeat but the younger Gomez won out. In fact Yum took
the first 4 rounds easily before Gomez recovered from the first round
knockdown to take Yum apart with smart boxing. At the age of 20 Gomez
was now a champion and 17 successful defenses, all by knockout followed as
he emptied the division of anyone who could have been considered a contender
or threat to him. Good fighters like Royal Kobayashi, Nestor Himenez, and
Leonardo Cruz were all taken apart in ruthless fashion. In his finest
defense he mowed down the power punching Mexican Carlos Zarate who was
moving up in weight looking for another title and was on a 52 fight unbeaten
streak. It was a tremendous fight with Zarate being the aggressor and both
men landing bombs but the naturally larger Gomez getting the best of it and
taking Zarate out in the 5th round. It was is 13th defense of the title and
now he wanted to move up in weight to fight another great champion. Gomez
failed however, suffering a stoppage loss to all-time great Salvador Sanchez
in 1981. it was a fight that saw him confused by the constant movement of
Sanchez and counterpunched into a brutal defeat. It was the kind of beating
that could have ended a weaker mans career. Yet Gomez boxed on going back
down in weight and beating another formidable challenger in Lupe Pintor and
the very good Juan Meza also. Making weight was now to difficult and Gomez
moved up to dethrone WBC champion Juan LaPorte by one-sided decision in 1984.
It would take another great to defeat him and that happened in his very first
title defense against Azumah Nelson who knocked him out with a chilling punch
in the 11th round knock out. In 1985 Gomez went on to capture the WBA Jr.
Lightweight crown with a highly controversial decision win over Rocky
Lockridge that many thought he had lost by a wide margin. Now well past his
prime he went on to lose the crown in his first defense against Alfredo
Layne. Gomez immediately retired but returned one more time to knock out
Mario Salazar in two rounds. Gomez is considered the best jr. featherweight
of all time by many of the boxing elite. Like many hard punchers he was
considered a shot fighter at the age of 29. In all Gomez fought 12 world
champions beating nine of them. Unfortunately his life after boxing was not
good.....and it was his own fault. Gomez was convicted of spousal abuse and
was ultimately jailed for drug related offenses in 1994.
Wilfredo Gomez
Career record: 44 W, 3 L, 1 D (42 K.O's)
1974
16 Nov Jacinto Fuentes Panama D 6
21 Dec Mario Hernandez CA KO 1
1975
16 Feb Jorge Bernal Panama KO 1
2 Mar Antonio Da Silva Panama KO 2
3 May Jose Jimenez Panama KO 1
21 Jun Jacinto Fuentes Panama KO 2
2 Aug Clotilde Garcia Nicaragua KO 3
19 Sep Joe Guevara Puerto Rico KO 6
20 Dec Andres Hernandez Puerto Rico KO 8
1976
20 Feb Cornell Hall Puerto Rico KO 3
5 Apr Rick Quijano Puerto Rico KO 1
8 May Sak Lempthong Puerto Rico KO 3
19 Jul Albert Davila Puerto Rico KO 9
16 Aug Tony Rocha Puerto Rico KO 2
11 Oct Jese Medel Puerto Rico KO 4
1977
12 Feb John Meza Puerto Rico KO 2
21 May Dong-Kyun Yum Puerto Rico KO 12
(Won WBC Jr. Featherweight Title)
11 Jul Raul Tirado Puerto Rico KO 5
(Retained WBC Jr. Featherweight Title)
1978
19 Jan Kazuo Kobayashi Japan KO 3
(Retained WBC Jr. Featherweight Title)
8 Apr Juan Lopez Puerto Rico KO 7
(Retained WBC Jr. Featherweight Title)
2 Jun Sakad Porntavee Thailand KO 3
(Retained WBC Jr. Featherweight Title)
19 Sep Leonorado Cruz Puerto Rico KO 13
(Retained WBC Jr. Featherweight Title)
28 Oct Carlos Zarate Puerto Rico KO 5
(Retained WBC Jr. Featherweight Title)
1979
9 Mar Nestor Jimenez NY KO 5
(Retained WBC Jr. Featherweight Title)
21 May Nelson Cruz-Tama NY KO 2
16 Jun Julio Hernandez Puerto Rico KO 5
(Retained WBC Jr. Featherweight Title)
28 Sep Carlos Mendoza NV KO 10
(Retained WBC Jr. Featherweight Title)
26 Oct Nicky Perez NV KO 5
(Retained WBC Jr. Featherweight Title)
1980
3 Feb Ruben Valdez NV KO 6
(Retained WBC Jr. Featherweight Title)
27 Apr Eddie Ndukwu Puerto Rico KO 4
22 Aug Derrik Holmes NV KO 5
(Retained WBC Jr. Featherweight Title)
13 Dec Jose Cervantes FL KO 3
(Retained WBC Jr. Featherweight Title)
1981
20 Jun Raul Silva NV KO 3
21 Aug Salvador Sanchez NV KOby 8
(For WBC Featherweight Title)
1982
9 Jan Jose Gonzalez Puerto Rico KO 7
20 Feb Jose Soto Puerto Rico KO 2
27 Mar Juan Meza NJ KO 6
(Retained WBC Jr. Featherweight Title)
11 Jun Juan Lopez NV KO 10
(Retained WBC Jr. Featherweight Title)
18 Aug Roberto Rubaldino Puerto Rico KO 8
(Retained WBC Jr. Featherweight Title)
3 Dec Lupe Pintor LA KO 14
(Retained WBC Jr. Featherweight Title)
1983
23 Apr Ivan Zamuco Puerto Rico KO 3
14 Dec Eladio Santana Puerto Rico KO 2
1984
31 Mar Juan La Porte Puerto Rico W 12
(Won WBC Featherweight Title)
8 Dec Azumah Nelson Puerto Rico KOby 11
(Lost WBC Featherweight Title)
1985
19 May Rocky Lockridge Puerto Rico W 15
(Won WBA Jr. Lightweight Title)
1986
24 May Alfredo Layne Puerto Rico KOby 9
(Lost WBA Jr. Lightweight Title)
1988
30 Jul Mario Gonzalez FL KO 6
1989
19 Jul Mario Salazar FL KO 2