Michael Gomez returns for a last throw of the dice by Terry Dooley May 8th 2007

Michael Gomez made his return to boxing with a thrillingly short-lived win over Daniel Thorpe in Altrincham on Sunday. In his last fight –Dublin, January 2006 - Gomez had turned his back on Peter McDonagh – and boxing – by walking away from the action in round five to spark speculation about a betting scam, loss of desire and the dying of the light. Gomez was infamously born in the back of a car and his hard-knock career has mirrored his life. It seemed that after the McDonagh fight Gomez would settle rowdily into retirement yet he is now back and insists that he wants to forge ahead in the super-featherweight division. As the fight approached a few questions hung in the air; the most pressing being what Gomez's response to return fire would be. Questions were quickly brushed aside, though, as Gomez entered the ring backed by a noisy contingent of his fans. All controversy in Ireland aside Michael can still attract a crowd. Once the action got underway Gomez, 9st 7lb, showcased his old aggression, he went to work with his left hook just as he had done when upsetting Alex Arthur in 2003. In this fight, though, Gomez himself was amazingly easy to hit and Thorpe found no defence barring his early speculative attacks. Between the rust of Gomez and the arc of Michael's slowed left hook Thorpe, 9st 4lb, got plenty of his own shots-in on the inside throughout the first round. By the second Thorpe was feeding off Gomez's ring rust as he scored alarmingly, Gomez popped a few jabs to the body and ensured that Thorpe was constantly having to move away from the ever onrushing man from Manchester. Gomez was winning the round whilst also taking a lot of shots on the way inside. It was like watching a man trying to rekindle a flame in a steady wind. A pair of left hooks to the body at the bell, interspersed by a left to the head, caused Gomez to look to the referee; it seemed that his relaxed/aged reflexes could not get his own hands up to defend the shots. Still it gave Gomez something to think about between rounds and he moved out with intent in the third. A left hook, right uppercut and left hook along the ropes caused Thorpe some distress only for Gomez to fail to apply the follow-through or sustain his pressuring rhythm. Thorpe was tiring; he had been unable to go into pure survival mode throughout the first two rounds as Gomez's pressure had been constant. Where Gomez did lack, in sharpness, Thorpe had tried to be exploitative by throwing shots early and in the third Daniel seemed to be paying the price. A left hook to the body and head from Gomez dipped the knees of Thorpe and forced him to sag along the ropes. Gomez applied the finish, a left uppercut and right hand, and Thorpe was sent down to the canvas, the effort of hanging in with Gomez for three rounds had taken its toll on his legs. The end came at 2:45 of the round. Afterwards Gomez told BBN that: “…it is good to be back, we did the hard work in the gym and I'm ready to step up a level. To be truthful I never did think that I would miss it (boxing) as much as I have done. I miss the training, I miss making the weight (and I) miss the competition. I never knew as a young kid how lucky I was to have boxing and I want to get more out of it before I retire. I want to get titles before I go. I'm fitter and more dedicated and I know this is my last chance and want to give it a final push. He said (Thorpe) at the weigh-in that he'd have a pop at me and he showed a little power. I got him with the head by accident and my head is absolutely solid, I could see it wobble his legs and that is when it started. In the third round I knew it was time to take him. I got him with a left uppercut; it was a good shot you know. I can make the weight easier (now) and all the hard is done. I hadn't taken a shot for a year and a half and I felt the shots and my body got used to them again. I'll be out again on June 24th and we'll see how far we can go” BBN threw in the odd guiding comment to direct the Gomez soliloquy but he was clearly addressing boxing and his exuberance at being back in the business of boxing. As he spoke he became increasingly animated and ended up nose to chest with BBN as he had so often done when intimidating his opponents. It was good to see Gomez realistically acknowledge that he is drinking in the bar two doors down from The Last Chance saloon, so, although the ride may be quick it should be intense. All things considered it was a successful return for Gomez, he got the all important win as well as bringing a crowd; more importantly, given boxings recent form, he entertained that crowd and sent them home happy after another raucous VIP Promotion. On a purely analytical level Michael did get hit a lot by Thorpe, Gomez was never Willie Pep but if he is going to get hit in every fight he has to get his offence to a high output level throughout every round and there is a chance he will not be able to do that anymore. This does mean excitement for his fans as Gomez chases along the comeback trail. The first bout of the day saw Joe Ainscough, 12st 8lb, beat Mark Phillips, 12st 10lb, over six two-minute rounds. Ainscough started brightly, a double-jab followed by a left hook was an early highlight and must have pleased his trainer Shea Neary. Phillips did get some success in the fifth as Ainscough tired on the inside a little and was bullied out of the round. Joe rallied in the sixth to retake the initiative then smartly saw the fight out with jabs off the back foot to seal a 60-54 on the card of referee Phil Edwards. BBN had it 59-55 for Ainscough who boxed aggressively as well as boxing clever when the need arose. Next up came Carl Wars as two Carls – Dilks and Wild – clashed over six two-minute rounds. Dilks, 12st 12lb, betrayed his ‘Dynamite' moniker with lots of stalking and little exploding over the course of the first round. Wild, 12st 9lb, himself was strangely tame and moved on the back foot throughout the first. This reverie was broken in the second as Wild moved backwards: then jabbed, the shock was palpable. Dilks took his cue and threw a jab followed by a right hand and left hook. Action now instigated both men exchanged in the third. Dilks fared better; he looked hardier than Wild as well as getting the better of the exchanges. Wilds was not helped by his habit of leaving his chin open when leaning back. Dilks swept the remaining rounds with right and lefts to the body followed by cuffs to the head of Wild. Wild was breaking up from the body shots and his movement became more frequent than his boxing. After a shaky debuting round – which itself is an explanation – Dilks had kept about his work and deserved the referees 59-55 verdict. BBN had it by the same score line. Next up was Johnny Enigma against Paul Royston. Enigma is really called Johnny Nelson yet changed his surname to avoid comparisons with the former WBO cruiserweight title-holder. Labelled an ‘enigma' by a teacher Enigma took up this non de plume yet in this his debut he was strangely predictable, go figure. Enigma, 11st 4lb, did nothing wrong in the bout it is just that the fight failed to gel. Royston, 11st 5lb, got a left in early only to be out-scored in the first before getting on the back-foot in round two, like Wild before him this paid-off for Royston as he got the odd left and right over the guard of Enigma. There was no great puzzlement in the style of Royston, it was back, back, then left or right yet Enigma struggled in the second round as well as the third. It might just show that an enigma can get wrapped in a puzzle and this leads to all-round confusion and inertia. Johnny started to move forward behind his own jab in the fourth and did damage to the nose of Royston as well as Royston's brief lead on BBN's scorecard. In the final two rounds Enigma settled down on his shots. Royston went further into survival mode and was beaten to the punch time and again. A right hand and left hook to the body in the sixth caused Royston to lean in heavily. It was no surprise to see a 59-56 scorecard produced in Enigma's favour, BBN had it 58-56. Enigma brought a vocal set of fans with him, it was a laboured pro debut although there was a suggestion that Enigma is not going to be hard to solve and if you put someone in with him who will stand and trade you will get small-hall wars. In the next fight Brian Rose, 11st 3lb, quality and class as he beat Dave Kirk, 11st 10lb, over six samey rounds. The Bobby Rimmer trained Rose looks the part, his body is perfect for a boxer and he uses his jab very well, at this early stage it may be that he is just too smooth for his opponents. This was certainly true in this fight as Kirk offered little attacking threat aside from the odd fierce glare, many of which missed their reflexively gifted target. By the second Rose was well in control yet, as in his last fight, was not pressing it, in fact at one point it seemed both were on a pay as you punch contract. As Rose got into the bout he blossomed into a smooth back-foot boxer. Everything was coming off precisely and a back step followed by a right hand and left hook showed quality, the fact he jabbed off the shots before moving to the side suggested a solid boxing brain. All in all it was a fight of picturesque work from Rose with too little sustained pressure to force a stoppage. The 60-54 was applied across the board. Finally we had a fight between Chris Johnson, 10st 13lb, and Danny Gwiylm, 10st 9lb, which came on after the main event had ended. In the early going it seemed that a quiet last fight was on the cards – probably by a 59-55 margin. Johnson was tapping the gloves of Gwiylm with the jab in the first and that was as close as we got to a punch. In the second both men tried to move onto throwing the one-twos only for little to land in this round also. In the third occasional jabs from Johnson got through but by now the shouts from the crowd were more threatening than the punches – including the de rigour “Fooking knock him out!” It was looking that this would be a one-line report when suddenly bosh (!) a blitz of punches from Johnson put Gwiylm face-first on the canvas. A left hook to the body followed – after a few missed shots – by a left hook to the head had ended the fight at 1:28 seconds of round number four to move Johnson to 3-1 (2). It was pity that a few fans had left immediately after the Gomez fight because as sudden finishes go one would have to go a ways to beat the Johnson-Gwylm fight. Photos by Allan Stevenson

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Gomez is back! May 8th 2007, 14:10:19 by alan phillips Good to see Michael back in harness. I spent a day in Manchester last year and did some pads with him. He is an awesome hitter and the speed of his approach was very deceiving he is on you before you know it. One second he is in front then dissapears to the left to deliver those tremendous uppercuts. One thing I was aware of was his bodily strength. I have been in boxing for over 50 years and seldom have I felt such power from a man under ten stone. Hope he can keep motivated and brush up his defence! Keep it up GOMEZ!