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Wilfredo Gómez RiveraNo radicarán cargos contra exboxeador Wilfredo Gómez
El Nuevo Día (2015-04-18). Retrieved on 2017-07-14.
(; born October 29, 1956), sometimes referred to as Bazooka Gómez, is a Puerto Rican former professional boxer and three-time world champion. He is frequently mentioned among the best Puerto Rican boxers of all time by sports journalists and analysts, along with
Félix Trinidad Félix Juan Trinidad García (born January 10, 1973), popularly known as "Tito" Trinidad, is a Puerto Rican former professional boxer who competed from 1990 to 2008. He held multiple world championships in three weight classes and is said to b ...
,
Miguel Cotto Miguel Ángel Cotto Vázquez (born October 29, 1980) is a Puerto Rican former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2017. He is a multiple-time world champion, and the first Puerto Rican boxer to win world titles in four weight classes, ...
,
Wilfred Benítez Wilfred "Wilfredo" Benítez (born September 12, 1958) is an American-born Puerto Rican former professional boxer and the youngest world champion in the sport's history. Earning his first of three career world titles in separate weight division ...
, Esteban De Jesús,
Edwin Rosario Edwin "Chapo" Rosario Rivera (; March 15, 1963 – December 1, 1997) was a Puerto Rican professional boxer who competed from 1979 to 1997. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the WBC lightweight title from 1983 to 1984, ...
, and Carlos Ortíz. His seventeen consecutive knockouts in championship defenses as a junior featherweight is a record for all boxing divisions. He was ranked number 13 on The Ring magazine's list of the "100 greatest punchers of all time". In 1995, Gómez was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.


Biography

Gómez was born in a poor area of Las Monjas of Hato Rey in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the son of Jacobo Gómez and Julia Rivera. Gómez himself reportedly used a
bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. Bic ...
as means of transportation when he was young, and he sold candy to earn pocket money before becoming an amateur boxer.


Amateur career and professional debut

Gómez won the gold medal at the 1974
Central American and Caribbean Games The Central American and Caribbean Games (CAC or CACGs) are a multi-sport regional championship event, held quadrennial (once every four years), typically in the middle (even) year between Summer Olympics. The games are for countries in Cent ...
held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and 1974 World Championships in Havana, Cuba before turning professional. He also competed in the 1972 Olympic Games in
Munich, Germany Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...
, getting eliminated by an Egyptian rival in the Olympic's first round of bouts. He compiled an overall record of 96 wins and 3 defeats as an amateur boxer. Because of his family's economic situation, he decided not to wait for the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, opting to begin making money right after the 1974 World Amateur Boxing championship instead. Coming from Puerto Rico, he settled for less money and exposure from the American media, and moved to Costa Rica, where he began to tour all of Central America in hopes of finding matches. His professional debut came in Panama City, Panama, where he fought to a draw with Jacinto Fuentes.


Professional career

After this inauspicious debut, he reeled off a streak of 32 consecutive knockouts including wins over Fuentes, who was dispatched in 2 rounds in a rematch, and future world champion Alberto Davila, who lasted 9 rounds before being defeated. His 32 consecutive knockouts place him in a third place tie with Deontay Wilder and behind
LaMar Clark LaMar F. Clark (December 1, 1933 – November 5, 2006) was an American professional boxer who fought in the heavyweight division. He was active from 1958 to 1961 and fought a recorded 46 times in his 3 year-career, mostly in his home state of Uta ...
(44) and Billy Fox (43) for the all-time knockout streak. Gómez's knockout streak caught the eye of the WBC and Lineal
Super Bantamweight Super bantamweight, also known as junior featherweight, is a weight class in professional boxing, contested from and up to . There were attempts by boxing promoters in the 1920s to establish this weight class, but few sanctioning organizations o ...
champion Dong Kyun Yum of South Korea, who travelled to San Juan, Puerto Rico to defend his crown against Gómez. Yum had a promising start, dropping Gómez 30 seconds into the bout, but Gómez picked himself up and eventually won the crown, his first world title, with a 12th-round knockout. His second defense took him to Tokyo, where he beat former world champion
Royal Kobayashi , better known as Royal Kobayashi, is a retired Japanese boxer who competed at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games in the featherweight division, and won the Lineal and WBC junior featherweight titles in 1976. He is an alumnus of the Takushoku Univer ...
in three rounds. Kobayashi had lasted 5 rounds vs
Alexis Argüello Alexis Argüello (April 19, 1952 – July 1, 2009) was a Nicaraguan professional boxer who competed from 1968 to 1995, and later became a politician. He was a three-weight world champion, having held the WBA featherweight title from 1974 to 19 ...
. Next was Sagat Petchyindee in a small city of Thailand. He lasted two rounds. Petchyndee later became a world champion Thai and kick-boxer and famous actor in Thailand. The bout with Petchyndee was preceded by a large tragedy when a column collapsed inside the stadium before the evening's main event; ten people lost their lives and an estimated 300 were injured, but the contest's organizers nevertheless decided to continue with the day's boxing show. Gómez's streak reached 32 knockouts in a row, including what is generally considered to be his biggest victory ever, a five-round defeat of bantamweight champion Carlos Zárate, who was 55–0 with 54 knockout wins coming into their San Juan bout. Also included in that streak was future world champion
Leo Cruz Leonardo Cruz (born January 17, 1953, in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic), better known in the world of boxing as Leo Cruz, was a world Jr. Featherweight champion from the Dominican Republic. Personal Leo was the brother of Carl ...
, beaten in 13 rounds at San Juan and Derrik Holmes, knocked out in five rounds in a fight attended, among others, by Sylvester Stallone,
Carl Weathers Carl Weathers (born January 14, 1948) is an American actor and former professional football player. He is known for his roles as boxer Apollo Creed in the first four ''Rocky'' films (1976–85), George Dillon in ''Predator'' (1987), Action Jack ...
and Alexis Arguello.YouTube
YouTube. Retrieved on 2017-07-14.
After recording his 32nd. knockout win in a row, he moved up in weight to face the world featherweight champion
Salvador Sánchez Salvador "Sal" Sánchez Narváez (January 26, 1959 – August 12, 1982) was a Mexican professional boxer born in the town of Santiago Tianguistenco, Estado de México. Sanchez was the WBC and ''The Ring featherweight champion from 1980 to 19 ...
of Mexico. He lost to Salvador Sanchez by 8th-round TKO. Hoping to get a rematch with Sanchez, Gómez went back to the
super bantamweight Super bantamweight, also known as junior featherweight, is a weight class in professional boxing, contested from and up to . There were attempts by boxing promoters in the 1920s to establish this weight class, but few sanctioning organizations o ...
division, where he got a dispense from the WBC to make two preparation bouts before defending his title again. He did so and won two non-title bouts, both by knockout in the 2nd round, one over Jose Luis Soto, who was a stablemate of
Julio César Chávez Julio César Chávez González (; born July 12, 1962), also known as Julio César Chávez Sr., is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1980 to 2005. A multiple-time world champion in three weight divisions, Chávez was liste ...
back in
Culiacán Culiacán, officially Culiacán Rosales, is a city in northwestern Mexico, the capital and largest city of both the Culiacán Municipality and the state of Sinaloa. The city was founded on 29 September 1531, by the Spanish conquerors Láza ...
, Mexico. Wins over future world champ Juan 'Kid' Meza, knocked out in six in
Atlantic City Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497.
, and Juan Antonio Lopez, knocked out in ten as part of the Larry Holmes vs. Gerry Cooney undercard followed. But all chances of a rematch with Sanchez were dashed when Sanchez died in a car crash outside Mexico City the morning of August 12, 1982. Boxing fans across Latin America mourned the tragedy. Gómez, who was training to defend against Mexican Roberto Rubaldino only five days later, took a quick trip to Mexico to offer Sanchez flowers and then returned to Puerto Rico the same afternoon. He beat Rubaldino by knockout in 8 rounds and made one more title defense, against the Mexican bantamweight world champ
Lupe Pintor José Guadalupe Pintor Guzmán (born 13 April 1955), better known as Lupe Pintor, is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1974 to 1995. He won the WBC bantamweight title in 1979 after defeating Carlos Zárate Serna, and made ...
in the Carnival of Champions in New Orleans, winning by knockout in 14 rounds. The Pintor contest was the only time a Gómez fight was showcased on
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television, premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office busi ...
, which at the time exclusively showcased the largest boxing fights, much like the
Pay Per View Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...
system does currently. By the time he was done with the Junior Featherweights, Gómez had established a division record of 17 defenses, and a world record of most defenses in a row won by knockout, all his defenses finishing before the established distance limit.


Featherweight division

He then re-tried winning the Featherweight title and this time, he achieved his dream, winning his second world title by dethroning Juan Laporte, a fellow Puerto Rican who had won the title left vacant after Sanchez died. He beat Laporte by a 12-round unanimous decision. This time, however, he didn't enjoy a lengthy title reign. Ahead on all scorecards, Gómez was the victim of a rally by Azumah Nelson of Ghana who knocked him out in 11 rounds in San Juan, December 8, 1984. Gómez wanted either a rematch with Nelson or a shot at WBA and Lineal Junior Lightweight world champion
Rocky Lockridge Rick "Rocky" Lockridge (January 10, 1959 – February 7, 2019) was an American professional boxer. He is perhaps best known for having handed Roger Mayweather his first defeat—a first-round knockout in just 98 seconds—earning him the WBA an ...
of New Jersey, whichever came first. Lockridge was first to offer Gómez a try, and the 2 battled a closely scored 15 round bout in San Juan, with Gómez being given a majority 15-round decision, which many experts have said Lockridge deserved, but also which in the opinion of most who saw it live, was a justified decision. Around this time, he began a shortly lived career as a boxing broadcaster. He specifically covered the
Victor Callejas Victor Callejas (born November 12, 1960) is a Puerto Rican former boxer who was world Junior Featherweight champion. Early history Callejas compiled a record of 36 wins and 4 defeats as an amateur boxer, and in 1979, he decided to turn professi ...
-
Loris Stecca Loris Stecca (born March 30, 1960) is an Italian former world champion boxer. His brother Maurizio is also a former boxer and held the WBO world Featherweight title shortly during the late 1990s. Professional career Stecca held the WBA super b ...
rematch from Italy for Puerto Rico's WAPA-TV, won by Callejas by sixth round technical knockout, and some local matches involving
Alberto Mercado Alberto Mercado Monserrate (born January 2, 1961) is a former Jr. Featherweight boxer who was on the verge of fighting for a world title at least twice in his career. Amateur boxing career Mercado started boxing as an amateur at the age of 12, ...
and
Juan Carazo Juan Carazo Serrano (born October 10, 1964 in Ponce, Puerto Rico) is a former boxer from Caguas, Puerto Rico. Carazo was considered to be a boxing reincarnation of Wilfred Benítez or Wilfredo Gómez by many of his fans, and he won his first f ...
in Puerto Rico for
Tele-Once WLII-DT (channel 11), branded on-air as TeleOnce, is a television station licensed to Caguas, Puerto Rico, serving the Territories of the United States#Permanently inhabited territories, U.S. territory as an affiliate of Univision and UniMás. ...
. This reign also came to an end quick, Gómez being handed his 3rd loss at the hands of young Alfredo Layne by knockout in 9 rounds. Layne lost the title in his own first defense to South Africa's Brian Mitchell, and it became obvious Gómez's best years had gone by, so he retired after this fight.


Last fights and retirement

Gómez tried a comeback in 1987 and 1989, but after winning 2 more bouts by knockout, he realized boxing wasn't in his heart anymore and retired for good. He later moved to Venezuela, where he ran into drug problems, causing him trouble with the law and spending some months in
jail A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correct ...
. He attended a rehabilitation center in Colombia. Gómez rebounded and is now back in Puerto Rico, where he has managed to stay off drugs. He helped Hector 'Macho' Camacho with the training of Camacho's son Héctor Camacho Jr., who was a boxer in the Jr Welterweight division. In 1998, Gómez became a born-again Christian. On May 18, 2003, Gómez returned to Panama, where he was received by friends Roberto Duran and
Eusebio Pedroza Eusebio Pedroza (March 2, 1956 – March 1, 2019) was a Panamanian boxer who held the WBA and lineal featherweight championship from 1978 to 1985, having defended the title against 18 different contenders, more than any other boxer in featherwe ...
, among others. In a message geared towards Panamanians, he expressed thanks to that country, calling it his second country and saying, among other things "I'm very motivated now that I will return to Puerto Rico, and no one should be surprised if I buy an apartment in Panama and move my family here". However, he bought a house in Orlando, Florida in 2006. Gómez had a record of 44 wins, 3 losses and 1 draw, with 42 knock out wins. In 1978, he was named Boxing Illustrated's fighter of the year. He is now a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Gómez was voted as the Greatest Super Bantamweight Ever in 2014 by the Houston Boxing Hall Of Fame. The HBHOF is a voting body composed totally of current and former fighters. In 2003 a
biographical film A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docu ...
entitled ''Bazooka: The Battles of Wilfredo Gómez'' was produced by Cinemar Films, the documentary was directed by Mario Diaz and was filmed in New York City.


Personal

Gómez has three daughters: Jennifer (who is Panamanian by birth), Gina and Liz Irina and one son, Wilfredo Junior. He is good friends with Panamanian boxing legend
Roberto Durán Roberto Durán Samaniego (born June 16, 1951) is a Panamanian former professional boxer who competed from 1968 to 2001. He held world championships in four weight classes: lightweight, welterweight, light middleweight and middleweight, as ...
. and former Puerto Rico Boxing Commissioner and boxing champion
Victor Callejas Victor Callejas (born November 12, 1960) is a Puerto Rican former boxer who was world Junior Featherweight champion. Early history Callejas compiled a record of 36 wins and 4 defeats as an amateur boxer, and in 1979, he decided to turn professi ...
. Gómez declared that
Fighting Harada Masahiko Harada (born April 5, 1943), better known as Fighting Harada, is a Japanese former professional boxer. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the NYSAC, WBA, and ''The Ring'' undisputed flyweight titles from 1962 ...
was his idol as a child. Gómez is married to Carolina Gamboa. On April 17, 2015, Gómez was arrested by Puerto Rican police after allegedly hitting his 59-year-old companion, a lady with whom he had been living for ten months. He was released after she refused to raise charges against him. British boxer
Michael Gomez Michael Gomez (born Michael Armstrong; 21 June 1977) is a former professional boxer who competed from 1995 to 2009. He was born to an Irish Traveller family in Longford, Ireland, spending his early years in Dublin before moving to London and l ...
adapted his last name from Armstrong to Gomez as a homage to Wilfredo, who was his childhood idol. A biographical book about Gómez, written by author Christian Giudice and named "A Fire Burns Within", was released May 9, 2016. Gómez was hospitalized on May 21, 2018 in Cupey, Puerto Rico, suffering from a
pulmonary edema Pulmonary edema, also known as pulmonary congestion, is excessive liquid accumulation in the tissue and air spaces (usually alveoli) of the lungs. It leads to impaired gas exchange and may cause hypoxemia and respiratory failure. It is due to ...
and pneumonia. On March of 2022, Gomez was rescued by his wife Carolina Gamboa, son Wilfredo Jr., and by friend, fellow former world boxing champion
Victor Callejas Victor Callejas (born November 12, 1960) is a Puerto Rican former boxer who was world Junior Featherweight champion. Early history Callejas compiled a record of 36 wins and 4 defeats as an amateur boxer, and in 1979, he decided to turn professi ...
, from his ex lover, identified as Diana Sevilla Villalobos, who apparently was holding him hostage at his Venus Gardens, Cupey (San Juan) house. Gomez was taken to a psychiatric hospital. Gomez subsequently recovered and returned to his wife by choic


Honors

Both the Wilfredo Gómez boxing gym and the Complejo Deportivo Wilfredo Gómez (Wilfredo Gómez Sporting Complex) in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, Guaynabo are named after him.


Professional boxing record


See also

* List of super bantamweight boxing champions *
List of featherweight boxing champions Championship recognition Public Acclamation: 1884 to 1921 Champions were recognized by wide public acclamation. A heavyweight champion was a boxer who had a notable win over another notable boxer and then went without defeat. Retirements from the ...
*
List of super featherweight boxing champions This is a list of Super featherweight boxing champions, as recognized by boxing organizations: * The World Boxing Association (WBA), established in 1921 as the National Boxing Association (NBA). * The World Boxing Council (WBC), established in 1 ...
* List of WBA world champions * List of WBC world champions * List of boxing triple champions *
List of Puerto Rican boxing world champions In Puerto Rico, boxing is considered a major sport, having produced more amateur and professional world champions than any other sport in its history. Puerto Rico ranks 5th worldwide between countries with most boxing world champions in history (o ...
*
Sports in Puerto Rico Sports in Puerto Rico can be traced from the ceremonial competitions amongst the pre-Columbian Native Americans of the Arawak (Taíno) tribes who inhabited the island to the modern era in which sports activities consist of an organized physical ...


References


External links

*
IBHOF.com
Wilfredo Gómez Biography at the International Boxing Hall of Fame Website

"Bazooka: The Battles of Wilfredo Gómez"

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Gomez, Wilfredo 1956 births Living people Converts to Christianity World Boxing Council champions World boxing champions Boxers at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic boxers of Puerto Rico International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees Sportspeople from San Juan, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican people of Spanish descent Puerto Rican Christians Puerto Rican male boxers World super-featherweight boxing champions AIBA World Boxing Championships medalists Boxing commentators