SAN JUAN — Wilfredo Gomez, arguably the greatest Puerto Rican boxer in history, has died aged 69 following a period of declining health. The three-weight world champion, renowned as “Bazooka” for his devastating combination punching, retired in 1989 with a record of 44-3-1 (42 KOs) after winning major belts at junior featherweight, featherweight and junior lightweight.
Gomez’s finest hour came at the Roberto Clemente Coliseum in 1978 when he defended his WBC junior featherweight title against the previously unbeaten Carlos Zarate. Zarate entered 54-0 (53 KOs) while Gomez was 21-0-1 (21 KOs), and the Puerto Rican sent his home crowd wild when he dropped his rival with a perfectly timed counter hook in the fourth round before a further knockdown in the fifth prompted referee Harry Gibbs to halt one of the finest fights of the decade. It was one of 17 successful defences during a six-year reign that established him as the division’s greatest champion of all time.
Then-Boxing News editor Graham Houston captured his aura in 1978, describing Gomez as “a boxer-puncher with the feline quality of a smaller Jose Napoles. He’s very dangerous because he always seems poised to strike. He’s got the sloped shoulders of a puncher and his power’s combined with a very high degree of accuracy.” Gomez had earlier competed at the 1972 Olympics aged just 15 and won gold at the inaugural World Amateur Championships in Cuba two years later.
Though he suffered defeat in two of his biggest nights — against Salvador Sanchez in 1981 and Azumah Nelson three years later — victories over Zarate, Lupe Pintor, Juan Laporte and Rocky Lockridge secured his place at the top table during a talent-laden era, with his bombastic 1982 victory over Pintor standing as another unforgettable chapter. Inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame six years after his retirement, he remained a national treasure in Puerto Rico.
His family had recently voiced concerns about his condition amid reports of neurological damage and hospitalisation due to breathing difficulties in the weeks before his passing, following a history of health battles that included a life-threatening lung infection in 2013. Towards the end of his career there were rumours of poor discipline, with training camps increasingly devoted to shedding weight gained between fights, and he gained weight and struggled with drugs in retirement, but his place in boxing history had long been secured.