Michael Gomez

For other uses, see Michael Gomez (disambiguation).

Michael Gomez
Born
Michael Armstrong

(1977-06-21) 21 June 1977 (age 47)
Longford, Ireland
Other names
  • The Predator
  • The Irish Mexican
  • The Mancunian Mexican
  • The Manchester Mexican[1]
Statistics
Weight(s)
Height5 ft 5+1⁄2 in (166 cm)
Reach68 in (173 cm)
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights48
Wins38
Wins by KO25
Losses10

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 later Manchester, England, with his family at the age of nine. In boxing he was affectionately known as "The Predator", "The Irish Mexican" and "The Mancunian Mexican".

Despite finishing his career fighting in the lightweight division, Gomez is more notable for his fights at featherweight and super-featherweight.[2] During his career he amassed a number of regional championships, most significantly the British super-featherweight title twice, from 1999 to 2004. He also held the WBU super featherweight title from 2004 to 2005.

Gomez, who has been compared to Johnny Tapia, has lived a turbulent life and was often involved in controversial fights.[3] In Gomez's initial matches he suffered a number of losses to journeyman opposition but then went on a run of victories which stretched for almost four years.[2] Of his 17 fights between February 2001 and March 2008, 16 ended in knockouts.[2][3] Concerns arose about his drinking and failure to adhere to his diet and training regimes after a loss to László Bognár in 2001.[4] Gomez appeared to be "back on track"[4] in 2003, with his high-profile fight against Edinburgh-based fighter Alex Arthur for the British and WBA Inter-Continental super-featherweight titles, which Gomez won by knocking out Arthur in the fifth round.[3][4]

In 2006, Gomez suffered a controversial loss to Peter McDonagh when, in the middle of a round, he dropped his guard and walked out of the ring, later saying he had retired from boxing.[5] He returned to the ring after a 15-month interval. On 21 June 2008, Gomez lost what was seen as possibly his last bout: a last chance saloon opportunity to resurrect his career against rising star and Olympic silver medallist Amir Khan.[6][7] Although scoring a surprise knockdown against Khan early on, the fight ended with Gomez being stopped in five rounds.[8]

Gomez took the surname Gomez after his childhood hero Wilfredo Gómez.[9][10]

  1. ^ Parr, Dean. "Michael Gomez: The Man, The Myth, The Legend". East Side Boxing. Archived from the original on 1 April 2009. Retrieved 17 October 2009.
  2. ^ a b c "Michael Gomez". BoxRec. Archived from the original on 7 April 2013. Retrieved 13 June 2007.
  3. ^ a b c Jones, Stephen (23 October 2003). "Alex Arthur v Michael Gomez, Amazing Fighters, Amazing Fight". Bragging Rights. Archived from the original on 10 June 2007. Retrieved 31 May 2008.
  4. ^ a b c Brennan, Stuart (23 November 2002). "Back on track". Manchester Evening News. Archived from the original on 21 April 2013. Retrieved 31 May 2008.
  5. ^ Craig Phillips. "Gomez returns from No Mas fight". Eurosport. Retrieved 13 December 2007. [dead link‍]
  6. ^ McGovern, Dan (5 October 2004). "Hatton Undercard Sizzles and Simmers". BritishBoxing.net. Archived from the original on 23 November 2008. Retrieved 31 May 2008.
  7. ^ Gareth A Davies (7 May 2008). "Amir Khan must not fall prey to Gomez". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 7 May 2008.
  8. ^ Doogan, Brian (22 June 2008). "Amir Khan survives knockdown". Times online. London. Retrieved 22 June 2008.[dead link‍]
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Derick Allsop was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference BP Khan was invoked but never defined (see the help page).