Wilfredo Gómez

Professional career

After a debut draw, Gómez won 32 consecutive fights by knockout, including a two-round rematch win over Fuentes and a nine-round victory over future world champion Alberto Davila. This streak tied him with Deontay Wilder for third all-time, behind LaMar Clark and Billy Fox. The streak caught the attention of WBC and lineal super bantamweight champion Dong Kyun Yum, who traveled to San Juan to defend his title. Yum dropped Gómez early, but Gómez recovered and won by 12th-round knockout.

In Tokyo, he beat former world champion Royal Kobayashi in three rounds; Kobayashi had lasted five rounds with Alexis Argüello. Next, Gómez defeated Sagat Petchyindee in two rounds in Thailand, a bout preceded by a stadium column collapse that killed ten and injured hundreds. Gómez's streak included his biggest victory, a five-round defeat of previously undefeated bantamweight champion Carlos Zárate (55–0, 54 KOs). He also beat future world champion Leo Cruz in 13 rounds and Derrik Holmes in five, a fight attended by Sylvester Stallone, Carl Weathers, and Alexis Arguello.

After his 32nd consecutive knockout, Gómez moved up in weight and lost to featherweight champion Salvador Sánchez by 8th-round TKO.

Featherweight division

His reign was short: ahead on all scorecards, he was knocked out in the 11th round by Azumah Nelson in San Juan on December 8, 1984. Gómez then sought a rematch with Nelson or a shot at WBA and lineal junior lightweight champion Rocky Lockridge. Lockridge offered the fight first, and Gómez won a closely scored 15-round majority decision in San Juan, though many experts believed Lockridge deserved the win; most who saw it live considered the decision justified. Around this time, Gómez briefly worked as a boxing broadcaster for WAPA-TV, covering the Victor Callejas–Loris Stecca rematch from Italy and local matches in Puerto Rico for Tele-Once. His reign ended when he was knocked out in nine rounds by Alfredo Layne. Layne lost the title in his first defense to Brian Mitchell, and Gómez retired after this fight.

Last fights and retirement

Gómez attempted a comeback in 1988 and 1989, winning two bouts by knockout, but retired for good when he realized boxing no longer interested him. He moved to Venezuela, where he encountered drug problems, leading to legal trouble and several months in jail. He attended a rehabilitation center in Colombia, then returned to Puerto Rico and stayed off drugs. He assisted Héctor Camacho in training Camacho's son, Héctor Camacho Jr., a junior welterweight boxer.

In 1998, Gómez became a born-again Christian. On May 18, 2003, he visited Panama, where friends Roberto Durán and Eusebio Pedroza welcomed him; he called Panama his second country and said he might buy an apartment there and move his family, but he bought a house in Orlando, Florida in 2006. His final record was 44 wins, 3 losses, 1 draw, with 42 knockouts and all three losses by knockout. A biographical film, Bazooka: The Battles of Wilfredo Gómez, was produced in 2003 by Cinemar Films, directed by Mario Diaz, and filmed in New York City.

Personal life

Gómez was married to Carolina Gamboa. He had three daughters and one son. He declared that Fighting Harada was his idol as a child. 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 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 and pneumonia.