Wilfredo Gómez

Bio

Right then — Wilfredo ‘Bazooka’ Gómez was one of the great knockout artists the sport has produced. A Puerto Rican from Las Monjas in San Juan, born on October 29, 1956, he fought at the 1972 Olympics in Munich and turned professional to build a record of 44-3-1 with 42 knockouts. He died in October 2026 at the age of 69.

Make no mistake — the headline number is 17. Gómez made 17 straight defences of the WBC super bantamweight title and every one of them ended by knockout. That run helped The Ring rank him No. 13 on its list of the 100 greatest knockout punchers. He also won world titles at featherweight and super featherweight, making him a three-weight world champion, and he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1995.

The biggest defeat of his career came in August 1981 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, when he moved up to challenge Salvador Sánchez and was stopped in round eight. If you know, you know: that was a clash of two special champions, and we never got the rematch. Read our tribute to Wilfredo Gómez for my full take on his legacy.