by David P. Greisman
Humberto Soto trained to make weight for his fight with Frankie Gomez, only to have that fight be called off when Gomez came in overweight. Gomez was 6.5 pounds over the original contractual limit of 141, 2.5 pounds over a new limit the camps had agreed upon after Gomez had informed them that he would not be making weight.
That means no fight for Soto. Fortunately for him, he will get at get some money.
“Humberto’s got money already. We gave him an advance,” said Eric Gomez, the vice president and head matchmaker for Golden Boy Promotions. He would not disclose how much Soto got paid and would be allowed to keep.
Soto’s team was willing to go forward with facing Frankie Gomez so long as Frankie could drop some more weight. That wasn’t going to happen, though.
“For the last two and a half days, he’s been working. He can’t lose anymore,” Eric Gomez said. “I feel bad for Soto because Soto worked very, very hard. He was responsible. He followed the contract. He did everything. It’s just a bad position to be in, but someone has to be a grown-up and do the right thing. Do you reward someone for not doing their job?”
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