Wilfredo �Bazooka� Gomez was on 29 October 1956 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The three time world champion began his professional career on 1974 fighting to a draw (his only) with Jacinto Fuentes. Following his first fight Gomez went on to win an unprecedented 32 knockout wins. He is the only world champion to ever accomplish such a feat and is third overall in all-time KO streaks. He gain his first championship against Jr. Featherweight Dong Hyung Yen, who in the first 30 seconds dropped Gomez. Gomez would recover and get a 12th round KO. He would go on to defend his crown from Bantamweight champion Carlos Zarate and future champion Leo Cruz. His first defeat would come from the gloves of Salvador Sanchez (Featherweight Champion) in the Battle of the Little Giants. Gomez under trained and underestimated Sanchez and lost in the 8th round by a TKO. He would later say that he learned never to underestimate his opponents. He would go back to the Jr. Featherweight division to train for a rematch with Sanchez. He would defeat future Juan �Kid� Meza but all chances of a rematch would disappear as on 12 Aug 82 Sanchez would die in a fatal car accident. The loss was so profound for Gomez that he flew to Mexico to lay flowers on Sanchez tomb. He would go on to take the Featherweight title from Juan LaPorte, before Azumah Nelson would hand him his 2nd loss of his career. He would take his third title, Jr. Lightweight from Rocky Lockridge. He would retire shortly after that in 1989. In 1995 he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. |