Juan Carlos Gomez at Heavyweight

[GOAT]

I had high hopes for him at one point. I thought all of these qualities would make him a dangerous opponent for anyone at heavyweight: good power (a very high KO% and the way he blasted out Al Cole, who is usually pretty durable, convinced me of that), a good chin, solid boxing skills, good handspeed, good size and reach, experience (he cleaned out the Cruiserweight division in going 11-0 in world title bouts after capturing the title), and relative youth (even though he has all that experience, he's a lot younger than many of the contenders at heavyweight).

The frustrating thing with Gomez is he was so inactive at heavyweight. Whether because of promotional or managerial problems, he just never got in the ring. Then finally he got his big shot on HBO's night of the young heavyweights, and when he effortlessly beat Samil Sam (the undefeated fringe contender who destroyed Danny Williams), I thought he was finally back on track.

Then of course he went out and got himself KO'd in less than a round by Yanqui Diaz for his first loss. Since then he has put together two good early knockout wins over 21-1 David Defiagbon (who was an undefeated fringe contender before losing a split decision to Oleg Maskaev) and the durable 34-7 George Arias.

I just don't know what to think of him anymore. What are your opinions?

[paul750]

i think he has a lot going for him, he has great boxing ability, he's a southpaw which is rare in the heavyweight division, he's got decent size and reach,good reflexes etc, he's one of the most gifted boxers out there, but his biggest problem seems to his motivation, thats why he lost to diaz who he should have beaten easily.

I truly believe the black panther is the dark horse of the heavyweight division, remember al cole had given guys like hasim rahman and kirk johnson a hard time, but gomez beat him easily, i was also impressed by the sinan samil sam win, sam is a good european level fighter and gomez beat him easily. i think a 100% fully focused gomez can truly be a force in the heavyweight division, if he is focused he will let his boxing ability do the talking.

[guru]

i was unimpressed the one time i saw him on HBO and then when i heard he got KO'd by diaz, that pretty much killed any anticipation... he could always sign with king and that would virtualy gurantee him a title shot though....

[GOAT]

i was unimpressed the one time i saw him on HBO....

A lot of people had that reaction, I guess because they were hoping to see a KO. But, Samil Sam was a highly regarded prospect by some at the time, is still a ranked contender, and Gomez could not have made it look easier in beating him.

[paul750]

it's also worth mentioning that luan krasniqi who's another very talented boxer, only narrowly beat sam, and krasniqi has just came off that win over whittaker.