- Wilfredo Gómez, the Puerto Rican great known as Bazooka, has died at the age of 69, with the news reported on October 11
- He finished his career 44-3-1 with 42 knockouts, and made 17 straight WBC super bantamweight defences, every one of them by knockout
- I rate Gómez as one of the five most devastating punchers the lower weights have produced, and his legacy only grows with time
Wilfredo Gómez Has Died At 69
Right then. This is a sad one. Wilfredo Gómez, the Puerto Rican known to the world as Bazooka, has died at the age of 69. His son announced the news and tributes have been pouring in from across the sport. Reports say he had spent around two weeks in hospital before he passed. Let's not beat around the bush: boxing has lost one of its true greats, and it is only right that we stop and remember what he did.
If you are young enough to know Wilfredo Gómez only as a name in the record books, I want you to understand how special he was. Gómez finished with a record of 44 wins, three defeats and one draw, and 42 of those wins came by knockout. That is a staggering knockout ratio, and it was not built against soft touches.
Seventeen Straight Knockouts
The number everybody quotes is 17. Gómez made 17 consecutive defences of his WBC super bantamweight title, and every single one ended inside the distance. Think about that for a second. Seventeen challengers, all of them ambitious and hungry, and not one heard the final bell. In today's era of protected champions and long layoffs, that run feels almost impossible, and it is a big reason why The Ring ranked him No. 13 on its list of the 100 greatest knockout punchers.
He was brilliant at 122 pounds, a lean, hard-hitting finisher who could end a fight with either hand, and he went on to win world titles at featherweight and super featherweight as well. Three weight classes, three world titles, and an International Boxing Hall of Fame induction in 1995. He also fought at the 1972 Olympics in Munich as a teenager, so the pedigree was there from the start.
The Night Against Salvador Sánchez
The defeat that defined his career came in August 1981 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Gómez moved up to challenge Salvador Sánchez and was stopped in round eight. It was a proper fight between two special champions, and the sad footnote is that Sánchez died in a car accident the following year, so a rematch never happened. If you know, you know: that rematch would have been one of the great fights of the early eighties.
Where Does He Rank?
Here is my verdict. Gómez belongs in any conversation about the best Puerto Rican fighters ever, and I would put him in my top five punchers pound for pound at the lower weights. Make no mistake, the fighters coming through today, from the champions at 122 pounds to the ones chasing them, are all standing on ground he cleared. Rest in peace, Bazooka. You were levels above, and boxing will not forget you.