
by David P. Greisman
The HBO televised co-feature between Frankie Gomez and Humberto Soto has now been pulled from the card due to Gomez being quite overweight, according to Eric Gomez, the vice president and head matchmaker for Golden Boy Promotions.
The fight was originally contracted at a maximum of 141 pounds. Frankie Gomez was having difficulty making weight, and a deal was made with Soto’s team for a new maximum of 145 pounds. He still failed to make that, coming in at 147.5 on Friday. Soto came in at 142.5.
“He’s not in the physical condition to fight. He’s seven pounds over,” Eric Gomez said. “It’s risky. Both fighters can get hurt. We don’t want to be put in the position where we’re fearing for someone’s health. Humberto’s willing to go forward, but he wants him to lose a little bit more. Frankie’s in bad shape. He can’t lose anything more.”
Frankie Gomez apparently got sick two weeks ago and took time off, according to Eric Gomez.
“We were just made aware of it like on Monday or Tuesday. We weren’t aware that he was sick,” Eric Gomez said. “When he came in, he was just way too heavy.”
Pick up a copy of David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsamazon or internationally at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsworldwide. Send questions/comments via email at fightingwords1@gmail.com