It’s taken three years for Alfonso Gomez to rebuild himself and earn another title opportunity, which he receives this Saturday (September 17) against WBC junior-middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. The similarities are there; like Miguel Cotto in 2008, Alvarez is a young, highly confident, hard-punching and undefeated champion. The difference comes from Gomez, who will bring his own confidence that’s come from the knowledge that he’s grown into a much better fighter. Earlier today, I caught up with Gomez right before one of his final workouts to see where his head is at going into the most important fight of his career.
Beats, Boxing & Mayhem: You’ve made it one of your trademarks to freestyle at press conferences. How long you have been into Hip-Hop?
Alfonso Gomez: Aw man, I love Hip-Hop! The very first guy that I heard rapping was Ice Cube. Then I started growing into Dr. Dre, Tupac, later Eminem and all the guys doing it today. Spanish Hip-hop started to grow. I started my own band which is a mixture of Hip-Hop and Espanol. So I feel like I had enough experience and good lyrics to do it at press conferences since they seemed boring. Every promoter and boxer says the same thing and it makes it repetitive. At first the boxing writers didn’t get it and thought it was just trash talking. But guys like you who know how Hip-Hop goes can appreciate the lyrics, multi-rhyming, ciphers and everything that Hip-Hop has. I try to do it in Spanish and so far it’s been good.
BB&M:Is Hip-hop something you’re going to pursue full-time as a post-boxing career?
Gomez: Oh, definitely! The band, Hybrid H3, that I have with my brothers, it’s a dream of ours to hit all the big stages in Hip-Hop. But right now I’m concentrating on boxing and the big fight I have for the world title. I’m sure that will send me to bigger opportunities in boxing, television and Hip-Hop music.
BB&M:Having a world title and defense on his resume has helped legitimize Canelo with a lot of people. But as his opponent do you view him as overrated?
Gomez: Yeah, there’s definitely a lot of work on him in terms of boxing and publicity. But I also understand boxing enough to know a boxer sitting on his couch doesn’t become an undefeated world champion at 21 years old. He’s definitely put the work in although the road’s been paved for him, unlike me, who’s had to move obstacles and roadblocks myself. Being on the same stage as him now but traveling different roads makes me proud of myself, my team and everything I’ve worked for. That’s what I think will be the difference in the fight, the fact that I did it the hard way.
BB&M: What do you think is the biggest in-ring improvement you’ve made since losing to Miguel Cotto in your first title attempt?
Gomez: Well, I’ve made a lot of improvements in terms of conditioning and dedicating myself to the sport more. Also, my team has grown in people and knowledge. We worked hard on making a good game plan for this fight and running up the hills and being able to do 12 rounds of hard boxing this Saturday. Improvement has been showing each and every fight; after the Contender my record is 10-1 with nine KOs, the only loss being to Miguel Cotto at his best. I feel proud of what I’ve accomplished.
BB&M: Final question. How much of a concern is Canelo’s power going into this fight?
Gomez: Well, I was able to take the punches of bigger fighters like Peter Manfredo and Jesse Brinkley, people who fought for the world title at super-middleweight. And when I fought and beat them both, I was able to withstand their punches. So even though Canelo has strength and power, I believe I have the stamina and chin to withstand them and make him start to have doubts and eventually carry me to victory.
Tickets are still available via www.ticketmaster.com for Gomez vs. Alvarez live this Saturday (September 17) from Los Angeles’ Staples Center. The fight will air on the undercard of HBO’s “Star Power” pay-per-view, headlined by Floyd Mayweather vs. Victor Ortiz.
Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 