Gomez Was Not in Favor of The Ortiz vs Maidana Clash

By Ryan Burton

Eric Gomez, head matchmaker for Golden Boy Promotions, appeared on a recent eddition of BoxingScene.com's official weekly radio show, The Boxing Lab. Gomez spoke on a variety of topics and shared some inside information on how fights get made.

I asked Gomez for his thoughts on the fight between Victor Ortiz and Marcos Maidana, which took place in June of 2009. Golden Boy received heavy criticism for making the fight, at the time, but the matchmaker revealed that he was against that fight from the get go. 

"We were pressured by the HBO and the WBA [the fight was for the WBA junior welterweight interm title]," stated Gomez.  "I didn't want the fight. I was against it from the get go. That's the only guy they would take so I left it up to [Ortiz's] coach and management."

While it looked like a disaster at the time, I pointed out that it ended up working out because Maidana has had numerous HBO appearances since then and Ortiz went on to upset Andre Berto in a fight that earned him a shot against Floyd Mayweather.

Gomez agreed and said, "It ended up being a blessing in disguise. Victor came back strong. And Marcos Maidana has parlayed that win into other big fights."

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