Harshest critics of this sport say that at the end of a fighter’s career, he has little left but a stack of medical bills and a few less brain cells. Among many others, Whittier California’s Alfonso Gomez is an outright contradiction of this statement. A former contestant on “The Contender” TV series, a ten-year veteran of the amateur boxing ranks and now the latest roadblock on the way to WBA welterweight champion, Miguel Cotto’s quest for continued undefeated status, Gomez is playing the game hard and smart. In a recent interview with braggingrightscorner.com, Gomez talked about his upcoming fight with Miguel Cotto, how he ended Arturo Gatti’s career, the politics of the sport he loves and life after it.

BRC/NICOSIA: Poverty has long been the great motivator of champions. When you fight, do you think of your past or just getting through the fight and moving up in the ranks?

GOMEZ: I guess it’s just pride. I just make sure I win the fight. I do think of the possibility of a brighter future and the poverty I came from when I’m training. But when I’m in the ring, I just think about winning the fight I’m in and beating the guy in front of me. That’s just how it works for me.

BRC/NICOSIA: Talk about what it was like going from being a virtual unknown to ending Arturo Gatti’s career.

GOMEZ: It was certainly exciting. I remember when he did the trilogy with Mickey Ward. To be in there, trading punches with him was really amazing. I just remembered watching him when I was younger and thinking that some day I wanted to fight him and would fight him. He’s a great fighter and to be in there against him was a dream come true.
 

BRC/NICOSIA: Have you two spoken since the fight?

GOMEZ: Our paths did cross once but we have not spoken. He’s living out his life and I’m living out mine.
 

BRC/NICOSIA: You credit “The Contender” with giving you your exposure. Would you have cut your career short had you not gotten to be on the show?

GOMEZ:  Yeah absolutely, I was at a point where I was going to give boxing another year because of all the politics of the game. I had always known that I was going to make something of myself and I was getting ready to explore other avenues. I had been promised a lot of things: “If you win this fight, you get this and if you win this fight, you get that.” But the politics just made it really hard. When I got on “The Contender,” it gave me the exposure I needed to promote myself and continue boxing.
 

BRC/NICOSIA: I saw on your documentary that your pancreas sustained some trauma and really rocked your world for a bit. Is there any danger of that injury coming back? If so, how do you see that affecting things in the long run?

GOMEZ:  That was just a one-time thing. It was during a week where I wasn’t really doing much and not training as hard as I’ve been. I’m now fully recovered and one hundred percent. I’ve been training much harder and am confident in my condition and my ability. It’s not going to affect anything in the long run.  
 

BRC/NICOSIA: Aren’t you afraid of Cotto seeing the pancreas clip from the documentary and exploiting the injury?

GOMEZ:  Like I said, there is nothing to worry about as far as that goes. If he does concentrate on it that only means that he’s getting over-confident and letting his guard down, and that will only work out in my favor.  
 

BRC/NICOSIA: Some of your shots are among the cleanest and most precise I’ve seen in a welterweight. During your fight with Gatti, your landing percentage must have been through the roof. Do you have a training method that caters especially to accuracy?

GOMEZ:  I guess it’s one of my natural gifts. Some people have power, others have speed and others can take a punch. I’ve seen my box scores and it’s obvious that I do have high landing percentages. I don’t actually have anything in my regiment to build that up. It just comes naturally.  
 

BRC/NICOSIA: I know you’re a fan of Julio-Caesar Chavez, is there any part of his style that you try to emulate?

GOMEZ:  Well for a while, I really tried to be the inside fighter, ya’know how he (Chavez) used to go in there and go to the body? But as time went on, I realized that I had to change my style. I found out I was really more of a counter puncher. That’s just my natural style and I’m a strong believer in, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” One thing we do share though is a good left hook. That’s one of my stronger punches.  
 

BRC/NICOSIA: How have you been training for your fight with Cotto?

GOMEZ:  It’s mostly just been business as usual. I’ve never been in a twelve-round fight. The most I’ve ever done is ten. So I brought in a conditioning trainer to help me out with that a little. But for the most part, I’m just training hard with sparring, roadwork and the usual methods. I’ve been training a bit harder, but I haven’t really been doing anything different.  
 

BRC/NICOSIA: Cotto is 31 and 0. As I’m sure your aware, you have a reputation for being a sort of spoiler of undefeated streaks. Is there any extra juice in the thought of you continuing your streak of giving fighters their first loss?

GOMEZ:  I’m just focusing on winning the fight. I think he and a lot of other people are underestimating me. I’m going to win and I’m focusing on winning. Being Cotto’s first loss will be an added bonus. I want to get in there against the Cotto that took on Zab Judah and Shane Mosley. I don’t want him bringing anything less. I know I’m the big underdog in this fight, but I think he’s really underestimating me. Plus he’s never fought a Mexican. And that means something. I don’t know why, but it does. Just look at the stats. I’m going to win.
 

BRC/NICOSIA: Some men fight for money, others because they can’t really do anything else, others to best competitors in the most raw and primitive form of human contest. This may sound like a simple question, but exactly what do you fight for?

GOMEZ:  I fight for money. I’m not ashamed to say it. I have many other gifts and callings besides boxing: I’m really good with computers and am a graphic designer, I’m was acting a little bit before I went into boxing and I also like music. When it came time to choose something to do with my life, I chose boxing. I had to make a choice. I’m 27 years old right now and am going to give boxing another three years. Then I’m going to pursue other things. Thankfully boxing will give the money and ability to do that.  
 

BRC/NICOSIA: What do you say to the critics of boxing that say Mixed Martial Arts is the future of combat sports?

GOMEZ:  I like MMA. I’ve seen the way those guys train and it’s really intense. Though the fights are short, those guys use a lot of techniques and conditioning to train and fight. I myself like fights a little longer with a little more strategy, but I’ve seen how hard they train and I like watching the fights.  
 

BRC/NICOSIA: Do you have anything to say to aspiring boxers in your situation?

GOMEZ:  Yeah, definitely. I think the most important thing is to know that there is more to life than boxing. Like I said, I’m getting out earlier than a lot of people but I also spent a lot of time as an amateur. I would tell them to go out and make something of themselves. But there is more to life than this.
 

Undefeated world champion Miguel Cotto defends his WBA welterweight belt on April 12 against Contenders’ star Alfonso Gomez from Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Tickets, priced at $500, $300, $200, $100 and $50, are on sale now and can be purchased at the Boardwalk Hall box office, by calling Ticketmaster at 1-800-736-1420 or by visiting

Questions? Comments? Write Dominic Nicosia

3-31-2008