alvarez destroyed michael gomez in 6

Alvarez crushes Gomez in six By Wayne Bartlett: Michael Gomez' reign as WBU Super-Featherweight champion was brought to a shuddering halt at the MEN Arena in Manchester Friday night when he was dismantled in six painfully tough rounds by Argentine import, Javier Osvaldo Alvarez. This was the first time Gomez had headlined a show in his hometown of Manchester, and it proved to be a terrible night for the 27 year-old. The tough Mancunian started well in the opening round as he boxed behind his usual gloves high, tight guard, outworking his South American adversary with his sharp jab. However, from the off you could also see that the visitor was confident and well schooled. Gomez continued with his pressing, crowding style into the next round as he maintained his good work with the jab although rather ominously, Gomez was starting to ship a few accurate counters and was also getting caught with short, jolting right hands. Gomez did land a good left hook with 50 seconds left in the round but the visitor took it well. Round three was well won by Alvarez. The tough foreigner's solid jarring punches were catching Gomez with worrying regularity as the rugged champion just bundled forward. By now there was also visible damage to Gomez' left eye. The wheels really fell off for the Dublin born man in round four and with a minute to go in the round, Gomez was in all sorts of trouble. The shot that prompted an avalanche of punches from Alvarez was a jarring right hand. It connected to the head of the former champion and he took it, only to have a delayed reaction and his legs buckle. This was the equivalent of showing a red rag to a bull, and the obscure South American pummelled his shorter opponent on the ropes. Gomez bobbed and weaved, only taking half the power of most of the shots and somehow managed to hold on and see out the round. Round five continued in much the same fashion, with Alvarez bashing up the now soon to be champion. The first half of the round saw Gomez looking a bit more controlled and not getting into any serious trouble but by the second half, Alvarez was just teeing off on him. Going into the sixth round you wondered just what Gomez could do to turn the fight in his favour. There looked to be no answer. The only hope was that Alvarez had thrown and landed so many punches that he may have burnt himself out. This theory was dispelled soon on though as he continued with his controlled boxing, picking off the still oncoming Gomez. With just over a minute to go in the round, Gomez found himself on the canvas. A beautiful combination of a left jab, right hand to the chin, a left hook behind the ear and a right hand to the top of the head put the determined Manchester man on the seat of his trunks. Upon rising, Gomez was straight back under pressure. Backed up to the ropes, Gomez vainly threw a few wild hooks to stave off the attack but it was no use. After shipping a dozen or more solid punches, referee Mickey Vann rightly intervened at 2.25 of the round. No one had heard of Javier Osvaldo Alvarez before this fight but they certainly will now on these shores. The Argentine, now 32-5-1(16) had a good pedigree, and went 11 rounds with Jorge Barrios in 2002. The same Barrios who floored twice and nearly KO'd Acelino Freitas in 2004. Speaking afterwards, Gomez' trainer Billy Graham said "No excuses, he was a good kid; we knew he was a good kid. We prepared well, he prepared well, it's just one of those things. He just got beat by a better fighter on the night". Without a doubt this is a terrible setback for Michael Gomez, but you have to wonder how much the tear-ups that the Mancunian has been involved in over the years has taken out of him. Have the wars with the likes of Lazlo Bognar, Kevin Lear, and Alex Arthur to name a few, finally taken their toll? Gomez, now 32-6(22) has bounced back from defeats before. Will he be able to do it again?