Alfonso Gomez
Encyclopedia
Alfonso Salvador Gómez Becerra (born October 28, 1980) is a Mexican
professional boxer
. He was a competitor on the reality TV show The Contender, where he ended up ranked third out of sixteen fighters.
, Mexico
, but his parents subsequently moved to the city of Napa, California
where he graduated in 1998 from Napa High and (later) Tustin, California
, partly so as to enable Alfonso to go to college and continue boxing. He had started boxing
at age 10, and had an amateur record of 80 wins and 10 losses. He was managed along the way by his father, an ex-boxer himself. He has two brothers and is part of a band with them called Hy3rid. He is married to his wife, Dulce, and they had a baby daughter in October 2009, named Heidi Luna.
, who would later be his roommate on the reality TV show The Contender. In a competitive four round fight, Ishe won by UD in his hometown based on a low blow in the 3rd round of their fight from Alfonso that was ruled incorrectly, as the punch was on Ishe's beltline. He would later be matched up with his rival, the tough Jesse Feliciano twice, as well as several other fighters with strong or undefeated records, defeating most of them, earning him the nickname, "The Executioner of the Undefeated" from one newspaper.
) and he challenged the highly-ranked Peter Manfredo
in the first fight in a surprising move after Joey Gilbert
seemed reluctant to take the first fight of the show against the undersized Jeff Fraza
. With the exception of Ishe and Alfonso himself, both teams were skeptical as to Alfonso's chances, but Alfonso beat the then-undefeated Rhode Islander in a shocking fight where he outhustled, outboxed, and outfought Manfredo over five rounds, sending him home, though Peter was brought back later on the show due to Jeff Fraza
contracting a case of chicken pox.
In the quarterfinals, he beat the confident Ahmed Kaddour (who had been brought back in to replace Juan de la Rosa
and as a thinly-veiled attempt by Manfredo, Brinkley, Gilbert, and Bonsante to psych out Ishe Smith
) by unanimous decision in a tough matchup that Manfredo was allowed to make as the challenge winner of the week at the time. Gomez outworked Kaddour the first 3 rounds, coming in off his jab-straight right, followed by hard body shots, throwing twice as many punches as Kaddour the first two rounds, absorbing punishment throughout the fight but consistently pushing the pace. Kaddour fought in hard flurries, landing the harder shots throughout the fight, especially the right hand lead and left hook knocking Gomez back a step or two occasionally stunning him, but then Kaddour would back off and move until ready to stage his next assault. Gomez suffered some pretty bad swelling, especially after walking into full force straight rights and left hooks in the final 2 rounds when their workrate was even, but Gomez won 48-47 on Marty Denkin's scorecard and 49-46 on Chuck Hassett and Ray Corona's cards.
The Semi-Final round saw Gomez up against Manfredo again. Gómez was still bruised up from his previous fight against Ahmed Kaddour and Manfredo won their rematch by UD in a tough seven round fight. Like their first fight, Gomez seemed to have the advantage after five rounds, but Manfredo seemed fresher in the last two rounds to win the fight, though both landed plenty of punches on each other. Gomez, who's jaw was incredibly swollen after taking lots of punishment from Kaddour and Manfredo back-to-back, visited Manfredo in the locker room to wish him well moving on.
On the finale show, Gomez defeated fellow semi-final loser Jesse Brinkley
, the consensus favorite in their match and hardest puncher of Season 1, by unanimous decision on May 24, 2005 in the "Bronze match" of the Contender show. Brinkley won the first round of their fight behind a series of stiff jabs and hard right hands, but Gomez won the next two rounds close behind good counter-punching and short combinations. The fourth round had a few swings, as Brinkley came back and dominated the first half of the round landing some huge punches, but Gomez was able to weather the storm and hurt Brinkley to the body badly in the second half of the round and beat him up during the second half to take the round. In the final round, Gomez continued to beat up Jesse until the last ten seconds, when Gomez celebrated his probable win a little prematurely and Brinkley got him with a big right hand at the bell, though Gomez was able to take the punch without being seriously hurt. He may take some consolation from having beaten Brinkley in the 3rd Place Fight, which guaranteed him a nice packet of prize money(200k and a 2005 Toyota Tundra)—and the whole Contender experience catapulted him to a world ranking of 21 out of 861. Even though he did not come out as the overall winner of the show, Gomez probably garnered the largest fan following of the fighters from Season 1.
. Perez was game, but sorely outclassed in terms of boxing skill and Alfonso landed a very high amount of punches on Perez throughout the match until the referee stopped the fight late in Round Four.
Gomez fought Jesse Feliciano for a third time to a draw after a long layoff on May 5, 2006 at the Aladdin Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada
on the Latin Fury card with the Contender Season 1 champion Sergio Mora
. The fight was a candidate for Fight of the Year. For most of the first four rounds, Gomez outboxed the rugged Feliciano, but coming off a long layoff and having to move a lot with Feliciano's relentless pressure, Gomez lost his leg stamina at the end of the 4th round and had to bang with Feliciano. Both guys landed tons of leather on each other in the following rounds, but Jesse seemingly got the better of the next two rounds. In the 7th and 8th rounds, Gomez seemed to get a second wind as he got some of his legs back and seemed to edge the last two rounds, but Feliciano still landed on him a good amount and came forward throughout, making those two rounds debatable. Gomez won 77-75 on one judge's card, but the fight was scored 76-76 on the other two cards, rendering the rubber match between the two a draw.
On August 25, 2006, Gomez fought Carson "Kid" Jones in an eight round bout at the Arco Arena
in Sacramento, CA. He pressured a game Jones throughout and beat him up pretty badly over the eight rounds until the referee stopped the fight in Round Eight. While Jones was clearly losing, it was a somewhat quick stoppage as Jones was still able to defend himself to some extent at the time.
Gómez was a part of the American team on The Contender Challenge: UK vs. USA
, where he was pitted against the hard-punching Martin Concepcion
on March 30, 2007. Alfonso won due to TKO from an uppercut followed by a left hook late in the 7th round after having largely dominated the fight prior to that.
needed a decent comeback opponent to determine whether he still had anything in the tank after a tough stoppage loss to Carlos Baldomir a year earlier. HBO gave the Gatti team a list of acceptable opponents and the Gatti team picked Gomez for Gatti to come back against, as Gomez was regarded by the Gatti team as a crude brawler type, a light puncher, and slow. The fight was also meant to be a setup fight for Gatti vs Julio César Chávez, Jr.
. Instead, Gómez defeated the favored Arturo Gatti
on July 14, 2007 via 7th round TKO in a dominant effort, landing right hands repeatedly over Gatti's jab and generally getting off first with his own jab and short combinations to Gatti's head and body. Gatti retired following this match.
in a unanimous decision in Carson, California on October 16, 2007, where Gomez also broke his right hand in the 2nd round hitting the iron-chinned Tackie with an uppercut. Gomez threw an incredibly high volume of punches in the early rounds despite his injury, outboxing Tackie, but Tackie kept the pressure on throughout and made the last few rounds of the fight hard for Gomez. However, Gomez fought through the pain of his hand and got the clear decision win. The Tackie win was supposed to set up a future match against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, but the Chavez Jr team did not want to make the match. Instead, Alfonso got a shot against then WBA Welterweight champion Miguel Cotto
, who needed a stay-busy opponent to hype up a possible Antonio Margarito
-Cotto match, with Margarito fighting Kermit Cintron
on the same card.
via 5th round TKO on April 12, 2008 after the ring-side doctor declared him unable to continue after receiving constant punishment from Cotto over the five rounds. Alfonso came into the fight with a still injured right hand(broken in the Tackie fight) and after a training camp which he was badly ill at one point so he was not in his best condition in the ring, and Cotto dominated him, landing nearly forty punches a round against him before the ringside doctor stopped the fight prior to the 6th round, though Gomez wanted to continue the fight.
. He expressed a desire to fight Julio César Chávez Jr, but Jr was now hovering around Middleweight so this fight was unlikely to happen as Jr's team had avoided Alfonso before anyway.
On August 29, 2009, Gomez scored a first round stoppage of Raul Munoz in Hawaii on a card with Brian Viloria
. He hurt Munoz with the first right hand he threw, then poured it on until dropping Munoz with another big right hand-left hook to body-right hand to face combination. Munoz got up in time, but was still damaged from the left hook to the body, and Gomez hit him with a few more punches, including another left hook to the body, and Munoz took a knee and indicated no ability to continue so the referee stopped the fight. This win by Alfonso set up a fight with Jesus Soto-Karass, a solid Top Rank prospect with a long winning streak and a high action style.
On November 14, 2009, Gomez fought against the favored Jesus Soto-Karass on the Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto
undercard "Firepower" at the MGM Grand. In a reasonably competitive action fight, Gomez outboxed Soto-Karass for the first four rounds of the affair, during which Soto-Karass committed a large multitude of low blow fouls upon Gomez that ultimately cost him two points, and headbutted Gomez badly by accident in the 3rd round, opening a large cut around Gomez's right eye. The cut bled profusely throughout until it necessitated a doctor stoppage in the sixth round of the fight, sending the fight to a Technical decision, which Gomez won 58-54, 57-55(x2). Gomez also attained the vacant WBC
Continental Americas
Welterweight title as a result of this victory.
Gomez fought José Luis Castillo
on the Manny Pacquiao vs. Joshua Clottey
undercard on March 13, 2010, at the Cowboys Stadium in Texas. It was pretty much a fight to determine whether Castillo had anything left or not as Castillo came into the fight off a small win streak, but against mostly mediocre competition, with the last solid opponent he faced having beaten him pretty easily in Sebastian Lujan. Gomez outboxed and beat up Castillo for five rounds before Castillo retired in the corner prior to the 6th round. Castillo did not have anything in this fight and announced his retirement immediately after the fight, though he changed his mind a few weeks later. Gomez thanked him for the opportunity in the post-fight press conference and mentioned some of the memories he had of Castillo.
Gómez has always expressed a desire to become a World Champion. He is coached by his father, Alfonso Gómez, Sr and has been managed for some years now by Gary Gittelsohn, who also manages Brian Viloria
. Alfonso is now being promoted by Top Rank
and is currently trying to get his next fight setup, there is fan support towards getting him a fight against Golden Boy prospect Saul Alvarez
but nothing has come of it as of yet.
card as the main event. However, during training for the bout Alfonso tore some ligaments in his left elbow and had to withdraw from the card, and will undergo a few months of rehab. For his part, Chavez Jr was set to fight Powel Wolak as a replacement bout, but after adjusting the weight limit for said match to 165 lbs, Chavez Jr himself had to pull out due to the flu messing up his training and weight loss.
for his WBC
Light Middleweight title at the Staples Center
in Los Angeles
. The card was part of the "Star Power" undercard featuring Floyd Mayweather Jr vs Victor Ortiz
and shown as part of a split-site venture.
Gomez and Alvarez got off to a tentative start in Round 1, with Alvarez playing counterpuncher and Gomez playing pressure fighter. The round was close until the very end of it, where Alvarez caught Gomez with a kind of half hook, half jab while Gomez came in on him somewhat off-balance. The punch scored a flash knockdown on Gomez, swinging the round in Alvarez's favor. In Round 2, Gomez picked up the pace and his strategy for fighting Alvarez was apparent, he would come in very low using upper body movement on Alvarez to avoid counters, fire off his jab and throw short combinations to Alvarez's head and body. This strategy proved to be effective as Alvarez was not able to time Gomez and had his offense blunted by Gomez's workrate. Alvarez would slip in a hard shot here and there, but Gomez was outlanding/outworking him by a wide margin and constantly bringing the fight to Alvarez. This pattern continued in Rounds 3 and 4. In the first half of Round 5, Gomez had a good start to the round but Alvarez finished up the round strong letting his hands go a bit more to make the round debatable. In Round 6, both men had their moments, but near the end of the round, Alvarez caught Gomez with a counter right uppercut that stunned Gomez. Gomez went back to the ropes, put his guard up, Alvarez came after him with a flurry of six or seven punches, the majority of which were partially blocked by Gomez, but the relatively unknown referee for the fight Wayne Hedgpeth called the fight in Alvarez's favor after the flurry. By the accounts of the HBO commentary team and general consensus, the stoppage of the fight was very fast as Gomez seemed to be able to defend himself and wasn't that hurt, making the stoppage look fishy. Also, despite seemingly controlling, setting the pace of the fight, and outlanding/outworking Alvarez by a wide margin for the majority of the fight, Gomez as it turned out was losing 49-45(x2) and 50-44 on the official scorecards prior to the stoppage, while unofficially HBO had the fight a draw. Gomez said after the fight that Alvarez hit pretty hard and was a good counterpuncher, but he felt that the referee was looking for a reason to stop the fight in Alvarez's favor and so he stopped the fight too early. He said he knew something like that could happen with Alvarez's backing and it is what it is. He also stated his plan to go back down to the Welterweight division and try to win a championship there.
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| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Opponent
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Type
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Rd
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Date
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Location
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Notes
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Saul Alvarez
| || 6 ||
|align=left|
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|-align=center
| || align=left| Calvin Green
| || 2 ||
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|-align=center
| || align=left| Jose Luis Castillo
| || 6 ||
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|-align=center
| || align=left| Jesus Soto Karass
| || 6 ||
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|-align=center
| || align=left| Raul Munoz
| || 1 ||
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|-align=center
| || align=left| Juan Manuel Buendia
| || 8 ||
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|-align=center
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Miguel Cotto
| || 5 ||
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|-align=center
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Ben Tackie
| || 10 ||
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Arturo Gatti
| || 7 ||
|align=left|
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Martin Concepcion
| || 7 ||
|align=left|
|align=left|
|-align=center
| || align=left| Carson Jones
| || 8 ||
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|-align=center
|style="background: #B0C4DE"|||align=left| Jesse Feliciano
| || 8 ||
|align=left|
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|-align=center
| || align=left| Luciano Perez
| || 4 ||
|align=left|
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|-align=center
| || align=left| Jesse Brinkley
| || 5 ||
|align=left|
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|-align=center
| || align=left| Peter Manfredo, Jr.
| || 7 ||
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|-align=center
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Ahmed Khaddour
| || 5 ||
|align=left|
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|-align=center
| || align=left| Peter Manfredo, Jr.
| || 5 ||
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|-align=center
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Julio Cesar Lanzas
| || 6 ||
|align=left|
|align=left|
|-align=center
| || align=left| Patrick Thompson
| || 5 ||
|align=left|
|align=left|
|-align=center
| || align=left| Jose Antonio Ojeda
| || 6 ||
|align=left|
|align=left|
|-align=center
| || align=left| Antonio Garcia
| || 2 ||
|align=left|
|align=left|
|-align=center
| || align=left| Juan Carlos Amezcua
| || 3 ||
|align=left|
|align=left|
|-align=center
| || align=left| Jesse Feliciano
| || 6 ||
|align=left|
|align=left|
|-align=center
| || align=left| Michael Santos
| || 6 ||
|align=left|
|align=left|
|-align=center
| || align=left| Dumont Welliver
| || 4 ||
|align=left|
|align=left|
|-align=center
|style="background: #B0C4DE"|||align=left| Leobardo Roman
| || 2 ||
|align=left|
|align=left|
|-align=center
| || align=left| Jesse Feliciano
| || 4 ||
|align=left|
|align=left|
|-align=center
| || align=left| Antonio Garcia
| || 1 ||
|align=left|
|align=left|
|-align=center
| || align=left| Ishe Smith
| || 4 ||
|align=left|
|align=left|
|-align=center
| || align=left| Pedro Antonio Ochoa
| || 4 ||
|align=left|
|align=left|
|-align=center
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
professional boxer
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
. He was a competitor on the reality TV show The Contender, where he ended up ranked third out of sixteen fighters.
Personal life
Gómez was born in Guadalajara, JaliscoGuadalajara, Jalisco
Guadalajara is the capital of the Mexican state of Jalisco, and the seat of the municipality of Guadalajara. The city is located in the central region of Jalisco in the western-pacific area of Mexico. With a population of 1,564,514 it is Mexico's second most populous municipality...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, but his parents subsequently moved to the city of Napa, California
Napa, California
-History:The name Napa was probably derived from the name given to a southern Nappan village whose people shared the area with elk, deer, grizzlies and cougars for many centuries, according to Napa historian Kami Santiago. At the time of the first recorded exploration into Napa Valley in 1823, the...
where he graduated in 1998 from Napa High and (later) Tustin, California
Tustin, California
-Top employers:According to the City's 2010 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are:-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Tustin had a population of 75,540. The population density was 6,816.7 people per square mile...
, partly so as to enable Alfonso to go to college and continue boxing. He had started boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
at age 10, and had an amateur record of 80 wins and 10 losses. He was managed along the way by his father, an ex-boxer himself. He has two brothers and is part of a band with them called Hy3rid. He is married to his wife, Dulce, and they had a baby daughter in October 2009, named Heidi Luna.
Boxing career
Coming off a strong amateur career, Alfonso Gomez turned pro in 2001, and was used by his first few managers as a stepping stone fighter for hotter-looking prospects. In his second pro fight he was lied to by a former manager as to his opponent's record and matched against Ishe SmithIshe Smith
Ishe Oluwa Kamau Bhoduri Ali "Sugar Shay" Smith is a professional boxer, and was a competitor on the first season of the reality TV show The Contender....
, who would later be his roommate on the reality TV show The Contender. In a competitive four round fight, Ishe won by UD in his hometown based on a low blow in the 3rd round of their fight from Alfonso that was ruled incorrectly, as the punch was on Ishe's beltline. He would later be matched up with his rival, the tough Jesse Feliciano twice, as well as several other fighters with strong or undefeated records, defeating most of them, earning him the nickname, "The Executioner of the Undefeated" from one newspaper.
The Contender
In 2004, Alfonso got on the boxing reality TV show The Contender as an alternate for a chance to win one million dollars, though he had to fight above his natural weight(Welterweight) at Middleweight due to the show's weight class choice. On the show, he was placed on the West Coast team (as was Ishe SmithIshe Smith
Ishe Oluwa Kamau Bhoduri Ali "Sugar Shay" Smith is a professional boxer, and was a competitor on the first season of the reality TV show The Contender....
) and he challenged the highly-ranked Peter Manfredo
Peter Manfredo
Peter Manfredo Jr. is a professional boxer. He is the IBO Middleweight champion. He held the NABO Light Middleweight IBU Light Middleweight EBA Light Middleweight...
in the first fight in a surprising move after Joey Gilbert
Joey Gilbert
Joseph Salvatore Gilbert is a retired professional boxer, currently a criminal defense & personal injury lawyer, and sports agent.-Biography:...
seemed reluctant to take the first fight of the show against the undersized Jeff Fraza
Jeff Fraza
Jeffery Toney "Hell Raza" Fraza is a professional boxer.He was a contestant on the NBC reality TV show The Contender...
. With the exception of Ishe and Alfonso himself, both teams were skeptical as to Alfonso's chances, but Alfonso beat the then-undefeated Rhode Islander in a shocking fight where he outhustled, outboxed, and outfought Manfredo over five rounds, sending him home, though Peter was brought back later on the show due to Jeff Fraza
Jeff Fraza
Jeffery Toney "Hell Raza" Fraza is a professional boxer.He was a contestant on the NBC reality TV show The Contender...
contracting a case of chicken pox.
In the quarterfinals, he beat the confident Ahmed Kaddour (who had been brought back in to replace Juan de la Rosa
Juan de la Rosa
Juan Pedro de La Rosa is a professional Mexican boxer and is Brother to Top Welterweight boxer, Mexican James de La Rosa.-Early life:...
and as a thinly-veiled attempt by Manfredo, Brinkley, Gilbert, and Bonsante to psych out Ishe Smith
Ishe Smith
Ishe Oluwa Kamau Bhoduri Ali "Sugar Shay" Smith is a professional boxer, and was a competitor on the first season of the reality TV show The Contender....
) by unanimous decision in a tough matchup that Manfredo was allowed to make as the challenge winner of the week at the time. Gomez outworked Kaddour the first 3 rounds, coming in off his jab-straight right, followed by hard body shots, throwing twice as many punches as Kaddour the first two rounds, absorbing punishment throughout the fight but consistently pushing the pace. Kaddour fought in hard flurries, landing the harder shots throughout the fight, especially the right hand lead and left hook knocking Gomez back a step or two occasionally stunning him, but then Kaddour would back off and move until ready to stage his next assault. Gomez suffered some pretty bad swelling, especially after walking into full force straight rights and left hooks in the final 2 rounds when their workrate was even, but Gomez won 48-47 on Marty Denkin's scorecard and 49-46 on Chuck Hassett and Ray Corona's cards.
The Semi-Final round saw Gomez up against Manfredo again. Gómez was still bruised up from his previous fight against Ahmed Kaddour and Manfredo won their rematch by UD in a tough seven round fight. Like their first fight, Gomez seemed to have the advantage after five rounds, but Manfredo seemed fresher in the last two rounds to win the fight, though both landed plenty of punches on each other. Gomez, who's jaw was incredibly swollen after taking lots of punishment from Kaddour and Manfredo back-to-back, visited Manfredo in the locker room to wish him well moving on.
On the finale show, Gomez defeated fellow semi-final loser Jesse Brinkley
Jesse Brinkley
Jesse Lee Brinkley is a professional super middleweight American boxer. He holds the WBC USNBC Super Middleweight Title as of February 22, 2008.-Personal life:...
, the consensus favorite in their match and hardest puncher of Season 1, by unanimous decision on May 24, 2005 in the "Bronze match" of the Contender show. Brinkley won the first round of their fight behind a series of stiff jabs and hard right hands, but Gomez won the next two rounds close behind good counter-punching and short combinations. The fourth round had a few swings, as Brinkley came back and dominated the first half of the round landing some huge punches, but Gomez was able to weather the storm and hurt Brinkley to the body badly in the second half of the round and beat him up during the second half to take the round. In the final round, Gomez continued to beat up Jesse until the last ten seconds, when Gomez celebrated his probable win a little prematurely and Brinkley got him with a big right hand at the bell, though Gomez was able to take the punch without being seriously hurt. He may take some consolation from having beaten Brinkley in the 3rd Place Fight, which guaranteed him a nice packet of prize money(200k and a 2005 Toyota Tundra)—and the whole Contender experience catapulted him to a world ranking of 21 out of 861. Even though he did not come out as the overall winner of the show, Gomez probably garnered the largest fan following of the fighters from Season 1.
Comeback Trail
Going back to his original weight class range of Welterweight/Light Middleweight, Gomez fought Luciano Perez in a five round contest on October 15, 2005 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on the Contender Rematch card, and won by fourth round TKOKnockout
A knockout is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, Karate and others sports involving striking...
. Perez was game, but sorely outclassed in terms of boxing skill and Alfonso landed a very high amount of punches on Perez throughout the match until the referee stopped the fight late in Round Four.
Gomez fought Jesse Feliciano for a third time to a draw after a long layoff on May 5, 2006 at the Aladdin Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
on the Latin Fury card with the Contender Season 1 champion Sergio Mora
Sergio Mora
Sergio "The Latin Snake" Mora is a Mexican American professional boxer trained by Dean Campos. He is the former WBC Light Middleweight Champion and also the first champion of NBC's The Contender....
. The fight was a candidate for Fight of the Year. For most of the first four rounds, Gomez outboxed the rugged Feliciano, but coming off a long layoff and having to move a lot with Feliciano's relentless pressure, Gomez lost his leg stamina at the end of the 4th round and had to bang with Feliciano. Both guys landed tons of leather on each other in the following rounds, but Jesse seemingly got the better of the next two rounds. In the 7th and 8th rounds, Gomez seemed to get a second wind as he got some of his legs back and seemed to edge the last two rounds, but Feliciano still landed on him a good amount and came forward throughout, making those two rounds debatable. Gomez won 77-75 on one judge's card, but the fight was scored 76-76 on the other two cards, rendering the rubber match between the two a draw.
On August 25, 2006, Gomez fought Carson "Kid" Jones in an eight round bout at the Arco Arena
ARCO Arena
Power Balance Pavilion is an indoor arena, located in the Natomas area of Sacramento, California. It is the home of the NBA's Sacramento Kings.-Background:...
in Sacramento, CA. He pressured a game Jones throughout and beat him up pretty badly over the eight rounds until the referee stopped the fight in Round Eight. While Jones was clearly losing, it was a somewhat quick stoppage as Jones was still able to defend himself to some extent at the time.
Gómez was a part of the American team on The Contender Challenge: UK vs. USA
The Contender Challenge: UK vs. USA
The Contender Challenge: UK vs. USA was a series of boxing matches on March 30, 2007, held at Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle, England, featuring 6 boxers from the US reality television shows The Contender and The Contender 2. The Contenders, in a team coached by Sugar Ray Leonard, took on 6 boxers...
, where he was pitted against the hard-punching Martin Concepcion
Martin Concepcion
Martin Concepcion is a professional boxer.Concepcion began boxing professionally on 6 December 2003, with his first bout being won by knockout, a theme that would be repeated 6 more times until 3 December 2004, when he won his first bout by decision. He racked up another KO before two more points...
on March 30, 2007. Alfonso won due to TKO from an uppercut followed by a left hook late in the 7th round after having largely dominated the fight prior to that.
Gomez vs Gatti
Arturo GattiArturo Gatti
Arturo "Thunder" Gatti was a Canadian professional boxer. Born in Cassino, Italy, and raised in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Gatti relocated to Jersey City, United States as a teenager...
needed a decent comeback opponent to determine whether he still had anything in the tank after a tough stoppage loss to Carlos Baldomir a year earlier. HBO gave the Gatti team a list of acceptable opponents and the Gatti team picked Gomez for Gatti to come back against, as Gomez was regarded by the Gatti team as a crude brawler type, a light puncher, and slow. The fight was also meant to be a setup fight for Gatti vs Julio César Chávez, Jr.
Julio César Chávez, Jr.
Julio César Chávez Carrasco , is an undefeated Mexican boxer and the current WBC Middleweight Champion. His younger brother Omar Chávez is also an undefeated prospect who fights at Welterweight....
. Instead, Gómez defeated the favored Arturo Gatti
Arturo Gatti
Arturo "Thunder" Gatti was a Canadian professional boxer. Born in Cassino, Italy, and raised in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Gatti relocated to Jersey City, United States as a teenager...
on July 14, 2007 via 7th round TKO in a dominant effort, landing right hands repeatedly over Gatti's jab and generally getting off first with his own jab and short combinations to Gatti's head and body. Gatti retired following this match.
Gomez vs Tackie
Three months later Gomez outpointed Ben TackieBen Tackie
Benjamin Wonder Tackie, , is a professional boxer. Tackie is known for his chin and his ability to throw a high volume of punches. All of his losses have come via decision.-Professional career:...
in a unanimous decision in Carson, California on October 16, 2007, where Gomez also broke his right hand in the 2nd round hitting the iron-chinned Tackie with an uppercut. Gomez threw an incredibly high volume of punches in the early rounds despite his injury, outboxing Tackie, but Tackie kept the pressure on throughout and made the last few rounds of the fight hard for Gomez. However, Gomez fought through the pain of his hand and got the clear decision win. The Tackie win was supposed to set up a future match against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, but the Chavez Jr team did not want to make the match. Instead, Alfonso got a shot against then WBA Welterweight champion Miguel Cotto
Miguel Cotto
Miguel Ángel Cotto Vázquez is a Puerto Rican professional boxer and the reigning WBA light middleweight champion. He is the younger brother of contender Jose Miguel Cotto and cousin of Abner Cotto...
, who needed a stay-busy opponent to hype up a possible Antonio Margarito
Antonio Margarito
Antonio Margarito Montiel is a Mexican professional boxer. He is a former WBA, WBO, & IBF welterweight champion...
-Cotto match, with Margarito fighting Kermit Cintron
Kermit Cintron
Kermit Cintrón is a Puerto Rican boxer who is from Carolina, Puerto Rico. Cintrón is trained by Ronnie Shields and managed by Josh Dubin. He is promoted by Top Rank.-Early and personal life:...
on the same card.
World Title Shot
Gómez faced and lost against Miguel CottoMiguel Cotto
Miguel Ángel Cotto Vázquez is a Puerto Rican professional boxer and the reigning WBA light middleweight champion. He is the younger brother of contender Jose Miguel Cotto and cousin of Abner Cotto...
via 5th round TKO on April 12, 2008 after the ring-side doctor declared him unable to continue after receiving constant punishment from Cotto over the five rounds. Alfonso came into the fight with a still injured right hand(broken in the Tackie fight) and after a training camp which he was badly ill at one point so he was not in his best condition in the ring, and Cotto dominated him, landing nearly forty punches a round against him before the ringside doctor stopped the fight prior to the 6th round, though Gomez wanted to continue the fight.
Comeback
On May 1, 2009 after a long layoff Alfonso Gomez (19-4-2, 9 KOs) stopped Juan Buendia (14-3-1, 8 KOs) in a high action fight with a left hook to the liver in the 8th round, at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, NevadaLas Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
. He expressed a desire to fight Julio César Chávez Jr, but Jr was now hovering around Middleweight so this fight was unlikely to happen as Jr's team had avoided Alfonso before anyway.
On August 29, 2009, Gomez scored a first round stoppage of Raul Munoz in Hawaii on a card with Brian Viloria
Brian Viloria
Brian Viloria is a Filipino-American professional boxer He is the reigning WBO Flyweight champion. He also won the WBC Light Flyweight and IBF Junior Flyweight titles...
. He hurt Munoz with the first right hand he threw, then poured it on until dropping Munoz with another big right hand-left hook to body-right hand to face combination. Munoz got up in time, but was still damaged from the left hook to the body, and Gomez hit him with a few more punches, including another left hook to the body, and Munoz took a knee and indicated no ability to continue so the referee stopped the fight. This win by Alfonso set up a fight with Jesus Soto-Karass, a solid Top Rank prospect with a long winning streak and a high action style.
On November 14, 2009, Gomez fought against the favored Jesus Soto-Karass on the Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto
Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto
Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto, billed as Firepower, was a boxing welterweight superfight for the WBO World welterweight championship. The bout was held on November 14, 2009, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States...
undercard "Firepower" at the MGM Grand. In a reasonably competitive action fight, Gomez outboxed Soto-Karass for the first four rounds of the affair, during which Soto-Karass committed a large multitude of low blow fouls upon Gomez that ultimately cost him two points, and headbutted Gomez badly by accident in the 3rd round, opening a large cut around Gomez's right eye. The cut bled profusely throughout until it necessitated a doctor stoppage in the sixth round of the fight, sending the fight to a Technical decision, which Gomez won 58-54, 57-55(x2). Gomez also attained the vacant WBC
World Boxing Council
The World Boxing Council was initially established by 11 countries: the United States, Argentina, United Kingdom, France, Mexico, Philippines, Panama, Chile, Peru, Venezuela and Brazil plus Puerto Rico, met in Mexico City on February 14, 1963, upon invitation of the then President of Mexico, Adolfo...
Continental Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
Welterweight title as a result of this victory.
Gomez fought José Luis Castillo
José Luis Castillo
José Luis Castillo is a Mexican boxer. Nicknamed El Temible, Castillo is considered one the best lightweights of his era. He is the former The Ring and two-time WBC Lightweight champion....
on the Manny Pacquiao vs. Joshua Clottey
Manny Pacquiao vs. Joshua Clottey
Manny Pacquiao vs. Joshua Clottey, billed as The Event, was a welterweight fight for the WBO World welterweight championship. The bout was held on March 13, 2010, at Cowboys Stadium, in Arlington, Texas, United States. This match was put together after the long awaited "superfight" between Manny...
undercard on March 13, 2010, at the Cowboys Stadium in Texas. It was pretty much a fight to determine whether Castillo had anything left or not as Castillo came into the fight off a small win streak, but against mostly mediocre competition, with the last solid opponent he faced having beaten him pretty easily in Sebastian Lujan. Gomez outboxed and beat up Castillo for five rounds before Castillo retired in the corner prior to the 6th round. Castillo did not have anything in this fight and announced his retirement immediately after the fight, though he changed his mind a few weeks later. Gomez thanked him for the opportunity in the post-fight press conference and mentioned some of the memories he had of Castillo.
Gómez has always expressed a desire to become a World Champion. He is coached by his father, Alfonso Gómez, Sr and has been managed for some years now by Gary Gittelsohn, who also manages Brian Viloria
Brian Viloria
Brian Viloria is a Filipino-American professional boxer He is the reigning WBO Flyweight champion. He also won the WBC Light Flyweight and IBF Junior Flyweight titles...
. Alfonso is now being promoted by Top Rank
Top Rank
Top Rank may refer to:*Top Rank, Las Vegas based boxing promotion company formed in 1973* Top Rank Records, 1950s subsidiary record label of the Rank Organisation, British company which ran from 1937 to 1996...
and is currently trying to get his next fight setup, there is fan support towards getting him a fight against Golden Boy prospect Saul Alvarez
Saul Alvarez
Santos Saúl Álvarez Barragán is an undefeated Mexican boxer in the Light Middleweight division. He is the current WBC Light Middleweight champion...
but nothing has come of it as of yet.
Potential fight Vs. Chavez Jr.
On December 4, 2010, Gomez was signed to get the fight he's expressed a desire for many times before, a matchup with the undefeated Julio César Chávez Jr at Middleweight(the contracted weight was 157) for Chavez Jr's WBC Silver Middleweight belt on the In Harm's WayNonito Donaire vs. Wladimir Sidorenko
Nonito Donaire vs. Wladimir Sidorenko Chavez and Gomez met along with their friends from Top Rank at the historic Millennium Biltmore Hotel to announce their mega fight...
card as the main event. However, during training for the bout Alfonso tore some ligaments in his left elbow and had to withdraw from the card, and will undergo a few months of rehab. For his part, Chavez Jr was set to fight Powel Wolak as a replacement bout, but after adjusting the weight limit for said match to 165 lbs, Chavez Jr himself had to pull out due to the flu messing up his training and weight loss.
Return
Gomez fought and beat Calvin Green via 2nd Round TKO on May 21 at the Morongo Casino in California on a Fox Deportes card for his comeback fight off the injury to his left elbow. Green caught him a few times with hooks in the first round, but Alfonso mostly dominated that round with good counter-punching and combinations to Green's head and body. It was more of the same in Round 2 when Gomez slipped a Green jab midway through the round and countered with a big straight right that got Green in trouble. Gomez went after and cornered Green, threw some more combinations and got another big right hand counter in that forced a stoppage by the referee.Gomez vs Alvarez
On September 17, 2011, Alfonso Gomez got another shot at a World Title when he took on Saul AlvarezSaul Alvarez
Santos Saúl Álvarez Barragán is an undefeated Mexican boxer in the Light Middleweight division. He is the current WBC Light Middleweight champion...
for his WBC
WBC
WBC may stand for:* BWF World Championships , a tournament organized by the Badminton World Federation to crown the best badminton players in the world...
Light Middleweight title at the Staples Center
Staples Center
Staples Center is a multi-purpose sports arena in Downtown Los Angeles. Adjacent to the L.A. Live development, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along Figueroa Street. Opening on October 17, 1999, it is one of the major sporting facilities in the Greater Los Angeles...
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. The card was part of the "Star Power" undercard featuring Floyd Mayweather Jr vs Victor Ortiz
Victor Ortíz
Victor Ortiz is an American professional boxer of Mexican descent and the former WBC welterweight champion.He was previously in the light welterweight division, where he held the USBA & NABO title....
and shown as part of a split-site venture.
Gomez and Alvarez got off to a tentative start in Round 1, with Alvarez playing counterpuncher and Gomez playing pressure fighter. The round was close until the very end of it, where Alvarez caught Gomez with a kind of half hook, half jab while Gomez came in on him somewhat off-balance. The punch scored a flash knockdown on Gomez, swinging the round in Alvarez's favor. In Round 2, Gomez picked up the pace and his strategy for fighting Alvarez was apparent, he would come in very low using upper body movement on Alvarez to avoid counters, fire off his jab and throw short combinations to Alvarez's head and body. This strategy proved to be effective as Alvarez was not able to time Gomez and had his offense blunted by Gomez's workrate. Alvarez would slip in a hard shot here and there, but Gomez was outlanding/outworking him by a wide margin and constantly bringing the fight to Alvarez. This pattern continued in Rounds 3 and 4. In the first half of Round 5, Gomez had a good start to the round but Alvarez finished up the round strong letting his hands go a bit more to make the round debatable. In Round 6, both men had their moments, but near the end of the round, Alvarez caught Gomez with a counter right uppercut that stunned Gomez. Gomez went back to the ropes, put his guard up, Alvarez came after him with a flurry of six or seven punches, the majority of which were partially blocked by Gomez, but the relatively unknown referee for the fight Wayne Hedgpeth called the fight in Alvarez's favor after the flurry. By the accounts of the HBO commentary team and general consensus, the stoppage of the fight was very fast as Gomez seemed to be able to defend himself and wasn't that hurt, making the stoppage look fishy. Also, despite seemingly controlling, setting the pace of the fight, and outlanding/outworking Alvarez by a wide margin for the majority of the fight, Gomez as it turned out was losing 49-45(x2) and 50-44 on the official scorecards prior to the stoppage, while unofficially HBO had the fight a draw. Gomez said after the fight that Alvarez hit pretty hard and was a good counterpuncher, but he felt that the referee was looking for a reason to stop the fight in Alvarez's favor and so he stopped the fight too early. He said he knew something like that could happen with Alvarez's backing and it is what it is. He also stated his plan to go back down to the Welterweight division and try to win a championship there.
Professional boxing record
|align="center" colspan=8|23 Wins (12 knockouts, 11 decisions), 5 Losses (1 by knockout, 3 by decision), 2 Draws|-
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Res.
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Opponent
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Type
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Rd
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Date
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| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Notes
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Saul AlvarezSaul Alvarez
Santos Saúl Álvarez Barragán is an undefeated Mexican boxer in the Light Middleweight division. He is the current WBC Light Middleweight champion...
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Calvin Green| || 2 ||
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Jose Luis CastilloJosé Luis Castillo
José Luis Castillo is a Mexican boxer. Nicknamed El Temible, Castillo is considered one the best lightweights of his era. He is the former The Ring and two-time WBC Lightweight champion....
| || 6 ||
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Jesus Soto KarassJesus Soto Karass
Jesús Soto Karass is a Mexican boxer in the Welterweight division. He is the former WBC Continental Americas and the NABF Welterweight Champion. Jesús is the older brother of boxer José Luis Soto Karass....
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Raul Munoz| || 1 ||
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Juan Manuel Buendia| || 8 ||
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Miguel Cotto| || 5 ||
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Ben TackieBen Tackie
Benjamin Wonder Tackie, , is a professional boxer. Tackie is known for his chin and his ability to throw a high volume of punches. All of his losses have come via decision.-Professional career:...
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Arturo GattiArturo Gatti
Arturo "Thunder" Gatti was a Canadian professional boxer. Born in Cassino, Italy, and raised in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Gatti relocated to Jersey City, United States as a teenager...
| || 7 ||
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Martin ConcepcionMartin Concepcion
Martin Concepcion is a professional boxer.Concepcion began boxing professionally on 6 December 2003, with his first bout being won by knockout, a theme that would be repeated 6 more times until 3 December 2004, when he won his first bout by decision. He racked up another KO before two more points...
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Carson Jones| || 8 ||
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Jesse Feliciano| || 8 ||
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Luciano Perez| || 4 ||
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Jesse BrinkleyJesse Brinkley
Jesse Lee Brinkley is a professional super middleweight American boxer. He holds the WBC USNBC Super Middleweight Title as of February 22, 2008.-Personal life:...
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Peter Manfredo, Jr.| || 7 ||
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Ahmed KhaddourAhmed Khaddour
Ahmed "Babyface" Khaddour is a professional boxer.-Personal life:Originally Lebanese, he grew up in Denmark and now lives in the United States - his multi-cultural background has contributed to him being able to speak five languages.-Boxing career:Khaddour started his career in Europe, fighting in...
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Peter Manfredo, Jr.| || 5 ||
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Julio Cesar Lanzas| || 6 ||
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Patrick Thompson| || 5 ||
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Jose Antonio Ojeda| || 6 ||
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Antonio Garcia| || 2 ||
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Juan Carlos Amezcua| || 3 ||
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Jesse Feliciano| || 6 ||
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Michael Santos| || 6 ||
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Dumont Welliver| || 4 ||
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Leobardo Roman| || 2 ||
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Jesse Feliciano| || 4 ||
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Antonio Garcia| || 1 ||
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Ishe SmithIshe Smith
Ishe Oluwa Kamau Bhoduri Ali "Sugar Shay" Smith is a professional boxer, and was a competitor on the first season of the reality TV show The Contender....
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Pedro Antonio Ochoa| || 4 ||
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