Wilfredo Gómez Rivera, sometimes referred to as Bazooka Gómez, is a Puerto Rican former

Wilfredo Gómez Rivera, sometimes referred to as Bazooka Gómez, is a Puerto Rican former professional boxer and three-time world champion. He is frequently mentioned among the best Puerto Rican boxers of all time by sports journalists and analysts, along with Félix Trinidad, Miguel Cotto, Wilfred Benítez, Esteban De Jesús, Edwin Rosario, and Carlos Ortíz.

His seventeen consecutive knockouts in championship defenses as a junior featherweight is a record for all boxing divisions. He was ranked number 13 on The Ring magazine's list of the "100 greatest punchers of all time". In 1995, Gómez was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

BIOGRAPHY
Gómez was born in a poor area of Las Monjas of Hato Rey in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the son of Jacobo Gómez and Julia Rivera. Gómez himself reportedly used a bicycle as means of transportation when he was young, and he sold candy to earn pocket money before becoming an amateur boxer.

AMATEUR CAREER AND PROFESSIONAL DEBUT
Gómez won the gold medal at the 1974 Central American and Caribbean Games held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and 1974 World Championships in Havana, Cuba before turning professional. He also competed in the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, Germany, getting eliminated by an Egyptian rival in the Olympic's first round of bouts. He compiled an overall record of 96 wins and 3 defeats as an amateur boxer. Because of his family's economic situation, he decided not to wait for the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, opting to begin making money right after the 1974 World Amateur Boxing championship instead. Coming from Puerto Rico, he settled for less money and exposure from the American media, and moved to Costa Rica, where he began to tour all of Central America in hopes of finding matches. His professional debut came in Panama City, Panama, where he fought to a draw with Jacinto Fuentes.

LINK TO ARTICLE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilfredo_Gómez

TAGS: Wilfredo Gómez, AIBA World Boxing Championships medalists, World super-featherweight boxing champions, Puerto Rican male boxers, Puerto Rican Christians, Puerto Rican people of Spanish descent, Sportspeople from San Juan Puerto Rico, International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees, Olympic boxers of Puerto Rico, Boxers at the 1972 Summer Olympics, World boxing champions, World Boxing Council champions, Converts to Christianity, Living people

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