Interview with Juan Carlos Gómez by Yosvani Oliva Iglesias 9-12-2003 I had an opportunity to talk to the former WBC cruiserweight champion Juan Carlos Gómez, who has an upcoming fight scheduled against Sinan Samil Sam on the 27th of this month. The match will be broadcasted on HBO as part of the network's night of young heavyweights.

QUESTION: How is training coming along?

JCGOMEZ: We're satisfied. Everything is coming out better than what I expected and we have a lot of support from my manager Luis de Cubas and training is going well. We're going to have new sparring partners and all the work has been done the right way and I feel very strong and very confident that I'm going to win.

QUESTION: Do you know your opponent?

JCGOMEZ: Yes, I know him. We trained together in Germany and we sparred a few times. So we know each other well and it'll be a good fight, a tough fight because he's a strong fighter and an experienced fighter.

QUESTION: How would you describe his style?

JCGOMEZ: He's a brawler, always comes forward. He's not an active fighter but he always comes forward, attacking. But we are preparing ourselves for this fight and we've been sparring for a few rounds, good sparring.

QUESTION: How do you see the division right now?

JCGOMEZ: Right now I can tell you that the weakest division is the heavyweight division. You start looking and you see Roy Jones who is a 175 pounder as heavyweight champion. You saw the fight between Lennox Lewis and Vitali Klitschko which was a joke practically. The fighters that are coming up will now fight each other and I think the next champions will come out of that.

QUESTION: Have you gotten used to fighting at heavyweight?

JCGOMEZ: Well, I think I've gotten used to the division. I feel a little bit heavier, slower, but I'm still fast which is what benefits me since I'm coming up from cruiserweight. I also have the experienced that I fought at almost every division as an amateur and from my amateur experience I've always had my skills and my quickness, which my trainer has always told me to keep my quickness and that's what we've been working on.

QUESTION: Is there a weight you have planned to weight in for the fight?

JCGOMEZ: Well, I want to step in the ring at 217 lbs. to feel fine, light. Right now I am weighing 220 lbs, so I'm right there.

QUESTION: How does it feel not having to make weight for a fight?

JCGOMEZ: Oh, that's great. I never thought I could fight at this weight since the Germans had me blocked at cruiserweight. But now I feel free and it's good. I feel fine, strong, fast and I'm happy. I don't have to worry about making weight and if I decided to weight 217 for the fight is too feel faster, but I weight between 220 and 222, so it's not difficult for me.

QUESTION: Do you view the fact that you are a southpaw who can punch as an advantage?

JCGOMEZ: It is an advantage, but we shouldn't get overconfident because of that because there are fighters who know how to fight southpaws. But I think with the work we are doing and the future plans we have, and the plans that the TV has with me in the near future, I will become champion of the world. That is my dream and I will utilize my advantage as a southpaw in the heavyweight division because it is hard to find southpaws in this division. There's a clash of styles and very few right-handers know how to fight southpaws.

QUESTION: You were one of the hardest punchers at cruiserweight, have you been able to carry your punch to the new weight?

JCGOMEZ: Well, I think I'm hitting harder because my sparring partners have quit because they couldn’t take it.

QUESTION: Who have you been sparring with?

JCGOMEZ: I was at first doing sparring with Aurelio Toyo who you should know and also a Brazilian fighter named Flavio Maldonado, and up until now we were sparring with Sherman Williams, but he had to quit because he couldn't take it.

QUESTION: Do you have any predictions for the fight?

JCGOMEZ: Well my prediction for the fight is that I want to make a statement for the Germans to see because they've been talking very bad about me since I abandoned them, to impose my respect. And show them that Cuban boxers and Cuban athletes anywhere in the globe where we might be... we are strong, and that I will show them.

QUESTION: Now that you mentioned the Germans, how was your relationship with them, especially lately that you were so inactive?

JCGOMEZ: I was inactive because they promised me a lot of things, like high purses, earnings and then they would say that the TV wasn't paying a lot and at the end they wanted me to fight for very small purses and I told them that I'm still cruiserweight champion because I never lost. I told them that they couldn’t pay me less than $100,000 no matter who I fought and if they didn't get me fights that led to a shot at the heavyweight title I wasn't going to fight, and I didn't fight.

QUESTION: Do you think that they blocked you at heavyweight because they wanted to market the Klitschko brothers?

JCGOMEZ: I think that it had a lot to do with it because since the Klitschkos got to Universum Box Promotions everything changed. They would always fight under me, I was the main event. But then they made them intercontinental champions, later European champions and everything changed slowly. Eventually they became the main event, they were already intercontinental champions and they (Universum) left me behind. The promotion ended, everything ended and then I started listening to people's opinion. A lot of people told me that I was the best fighter the company had and that they should pay me better and promote me more. There was a German guy who told me that it was racism because "you're a pearl, a black diamond among all these white Europeans and they want to have two brothers who are heavyweight and are taller than 2 m, it is something that sells." I went through all that until I decided to leave them and now I am in my Latin world, my Hispanic world and I expect that they like me and I'm going to give my everything to look good.

QUESTION: Can you put in perspective what this fight means to you?

JCGOMEZ: This is a new star to my career. My life begins again because my future depends on that fight and I'm preparing myself like I've never had. I'm training hard, waking up early. We are doing a good job and everything is coming along as planed and now it is me who has to decide what's going to happen in the ring because that's my fight.

QUESTION: You are one of a few fighters that so soon after coming to the U.S. get so much attention from HBO. Do you feel a lot of responsibility because you are going to be fighting in the most important network in the boxing industry? And do you feel that you not only have to win, but have to look good doing so?

JCGOMEZ: To fight on HBO, in Vegas, has always been a dream of mine, but I only concentrate on boxing because I know that if I don't look good and put up a good show everything may fall. In life everything goes up and down, but I only worry about the fight because that's what decides my future.

QUESTION: Right now, in this instant, do you feel ready to fight for a world title?

JCGOMEZ: I'm preparing myself towards that. I was inactive for a year and I would like to fight 2 or 3 fights before getting a shot at the title so I can see how I feel mentally and physically on the ring.

QUESTION: Has the long layoff affected you?

JCGOMEZ: Yes and no. It has been a year where I've learned a lot and now I comeback wiser. I come back hungrier because a year not fighting it's a year not making money. And I just had a son and I have to show my son he has a powerful Dad.

QUESTION: Should you become heavyweight champion of the world you would be the first Cuban ever to do it and you would add your name among the greatest champions from Cuba. Are you aware of that?

JCGOMEZ: That's a goal of mine. I have set that goal and I want it to become a reality. I am working hard towards that and I think, no, I'm sure that I can't fail.

I want to thank Juan Carlos Gomez for giving me the time to talk to him and his manager Luis de Cubas for making it happen. I also want to wish Juan Carlos good luck in the upcoming fight and in all his future endeavors.

For questions or comments: E-MAIL Yosvani Oliva Iglesias: yoi1@aol.com

9-12-2003