FALLEN HEROES

                                                  THE BATTLE OF THE LITTLE GIANTS

Caguas P.R One fight that’s always on my mind is When Wifredo Bazooka Gomez44-3-1-42kos from Puerto Rico, who at  the time was the undefended super bantamweight champion  .Moved up a weight to challenge the featherweight champion the late Salvador Sanchez from Mexico 44-1-1-32kos this was a fight  fan dream of two of the best boxers in the world facing each other they called it The Battle of little Giants which was held in Caesars Palace .my mother loved Gomez she would talk of his heart how he never took a step back ,and the pride he brought to the Puertoricans .who ever saw him fight would fall in love with his style. I know I did .for most he was unbeatable

                                         GOMEZ A PUERTO RICAN HERO.

The whole family  were coming over moms to watch the fight .This was a tradition when ever there was a big fight ,the house would be full of relative and friends ,she always made sure there was enough to eat ,while uncle kept the beers cold and the bones rolling ,as I played with my cousins .Then main event starts everybody stops  talking and playing dominos, as our hero walks into the ring, Everyone was quite threw the introduction I looked at my mom andI can see she was nervous .DING the bell rings out comes Gomez and 40 second into the fight he goes down from a left hook from Sanchez ,.Everybody started saying its alright this happened  before hell get up and finish Sanchez. We were hopeing how he did when he fought for the super bantamweight title held by Dong Kyun Yum(53-5-8-21kos).he also went down in the opening second of the fight but got up and won the crown with a 12 round K.O.But tonight was different                                      

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                                      I SAW MY MOTHER CRY FOR FIRST TIME
By the third round we could see Gomez eyes swelling up, Gomez had some moments. But by the seven round he was badly blinded but continually going forward throwing deadly combos, I could see why he was so loved and what my mom meant of his heart. Mid round 8 Sanchez land a right that send Gomez to the ropes where Sanchez doesn’t waste time and finishes the fight with the referee Carlos Padilla signals the end of the fight. I would never forget that night the screams I heard coming from houses down my block, and seeing my mother cry for the first time. It felt like if someone close to the family had died. They start blaming Don King who was Gomez promoter at the time.  Almost every body in my house was crying.  The whole island was in mourning after that defeat. Most Businesses and stores where close the day after the fight. Gomez was depress for a while he felt he let his people down. HE never got a rematch with Sanchez because in 08-12 1982 Sanchez killed himself in a car crash in Mexico City.

                                                             

                                                      MADISON SQUARE GARDEN

Sep-29-2001 was the date that they agreed to postponed the fight between Felix Tito Trinidad (45-3-35kos) vs. Bernard Hopkins (59-5-2-1-32kos) for the undisputed middleweight championship of the world. A tournament that Don king made to find out who was the best middleweight in the world since Marvin Hagler who was the last undisputed 160lb champion. Trinidad Had just beating William Joppy for the W.B.A title and now he had to face Hopkins who held the I.B.F/W.B.C title. At the time Trinidad was undefeated and just like we thought of our Gomez “unbeatable”. Trinidad thought he was going to knock out Hopkins it was going to be easy, same way Gomez was saying about Sanchez. And like Gomez, Trinidad too was a hero of an entire island. When the bell rang in Madison Square Garden, We could see right from beginning it was going to be a long night as Hopkins constantly moved around the ring and outbox Tito .Trinidad had a good six round and the 10 round was consider one of the years best,but it wasn't enough. The Executioner In my opinion fought the best bout of his live. By the twelve the fight was threw when Felix Trinidad Sr went to pick Tito up and referee Steve Smogers stops fight. DEJAVU I felt the same way when Gomez lost as tears came down my face, my relatives were depressed, An island again mourned. Those two loses ill remember for the rest of my live history due repeats itself