Michael Gomez is feeling the fear but coming back anyway by Terry Dooley Jul 28th 2007

Immediately prior to his British super-featherweight clash with Alex Arthur in 2003 Michael Gomez was caught up in a maelstrom of emotions. Hands trembling slightly Gomez looked-up at his trainer Billy Graham - himself prone to pre-fight nerves - and gave the surest spoken indication yet that he was primed to rip Arthur's title away in Alex's hometown. Gomez's confidence, as odd as it may seem, was summed-up in three words. “Billy, I'm scared.” An all-or-nothing type Gomez would whip himself into a frenzy of anger when a fight was announced, resulting in confrontational weigh-ins and press conferences, before dipping his mood into a state of heightened tension. Gomez would eventually embrace his fears, turning them excitement and, finally, anger as he made his ring entrance. Three years later Gomez turned his back on boxing - and opponent Peter McDonagh - to begin an abortive career as a bodybuilder. Now, though, Gomez is back in the ring. Gomez has discovered an important truth - an athlete dies twice. During the first death, the end of his sporting career, the athlete often ends-up wandering his former fields of glory like a soldier trying to find his way to a home that he no longer inhabits. The urge to fight, the addiction to boxing and the glory, proved too strong a siren song for Gomez to resist. BBN: What was your motivation when deciding to mount a comeback? MG: “When I was out of the ring I went up to 13st 8lb. I went to watch Alex Arthur fight and Carl Johanneson fight and thought ‘you know what I can beat these two'. What was I doing sat about boozing and eating? I got myself fit and wanted to see what happened. “Then I got myself to 10 and a half stone and started shadowboxing and I'd never shadowboxed properly before. When I was with Brian Hughes I never shadowboxed, I used to hate it, it bores me but I was starting to buzz off it. “I was then going on the bags and moving my head and it was coming back so I thought I'd have a fight against someone like Daniel Thorpe and if I can't blow Daniel Thorpe away – don't get me wrong only the best stop Daniel – then it (a comeback) is not happening.” BBN: How did you feel when you came back for the Thorpe fight (W RSF 3)? MG: “I felt good, I felt strong and I enjoyed the success. So for my last fight [against Youseff Al Hamidi] I got some hard sparring with John Murray and Anthony Crolla. That showed my heart is still there and my punch resistance is definitely there.” BBN: You endured a torrid time during the first round of your second comeback fight against Youseff Al Hamidi - did you then think you had made a mistake in coming back? MG: “No. I sat down after that first round with two cuts and all I said to my trainer Bobby was ‘I'm gonna knock him out in the next round' so that shows I've still got my determination and that loose screw in my head I always had is still loose. “I've got the buzz back. I've got the love for boxing again. I was at the show when Mark Thompson fought [Vincent Vuma] and people were calling me the original comeback kid. “With it only being a few weeks after the fight I should have been out celebrating but I went home and went straight out for a run. “I was (running) thinking “I'm back” and I looked up to the Lord and he said, ‘Michael I'm giving you one more chance'. This is not my second chance at boxing. This is my third, fourth and fifth chance. This is my last chance and I'm taking it proper; no boozing and straight back in the gym after my fights. I'm 30 years of age and I want to fight and to make a little bit of money for my kids.” BBN: You left boxing under a cloud after turning your back on Peter McDonagh in Dublin when fighting for the vacant Irish lightweight title, were you originally coming back to avenge that defeat? MG: “No. Peter McDonagh can't beat me; he retired rather than fight me on my comeback. He knows who won that fight; I'm not going to go into detail on that fight but I turned my back on the fight. McDonagh never stopped me. He never beat me. I turned my back because I was finished. He knows he cannot beat Michael Gomez.” BBN: There were accusations, later proven to be anecdotal, of a betting scam and the fight left many people feeling negative towards you. MG: “Lets be honest they say a lot about me so I wasn't surprised they said those things (about the betting scam). People say Michael Gomez is a bully, they say Michael Gomez is horrible, they say I threw that fight but people forget that Michael Gomez is one-hundred percent provider for his kids and tries to win fights for them. “Michael Gomez was dragged-up in caravans and care homes, I had nothing and my kids aren't going through that. People can say what they want about me but I don't care because my kids go to school with brand-new trainers on, they get a packed lunch and they get dinner money and can have a smile on their face because Michael Gomez is a provider for his kids and he won't do it by selling his soul out. I wouldn't sell my soul for a million quid or for a bet against McDonagh.” BBN: So what is your explanation for the strange ending to the fight? (Rumours abounded; anecdotal accusations of a betting scam formed the main theory, odds for Gomez losing via stoppage, with the fifth round pinpointed, were said to have dropped significantly on the day of the fight.) MG: “I was bored in the fight, it got boring for me. McDonagh shut up shop for five rounds; he threw a few shots but was only landing three or four a round. I like a war, he bored me, it was like playing snooker against Steve Davis and after five rounds you get bored and that is what happened. He bored me out of the fight.” BBN: What do you want to achieve now? MG: “I will be Champion of some sort by the end of the year. By the middle of next year I will be fighting for the world title. It is guaranteed. “I am not here for one last payday [or to be] bashed-up by Amir Khan or Kevin Mitchell because my soul is not about that. I'm back to show I'm the big underachiever in British boxing because I should have been on the world stage. I should have been with Ricky [Hatton] in Vegas.” BBN: You seem to be saying you did not maximise your talent, why was that? MG: “I didn't make the most of my talent because of me. It was not Frank Warren or Billy Graham or Brian Hughes; it was Michael Gomez. I let myself down and I ain't doing that any more. “I was with Billy Graham for a long time and I was with Brian Hughes before that. I used to blame them when things went wrong but it turned out that I'm the one who is hard to work with. I get very tense and snappy before a fight and I sometimes take that out on the trainers. That is wrong but that is in the past.” BBN: You have said in the past that your best performances were fuelled by fear, is this fear back? MG: “Yes. Alex Arthur, Dean Pithie, Leva Kirakosayan – he hit me so hard he gave me pins and needles - all scared me. Carl Johanneson scares me. “When you are not scared you come unstuck. I lost my [WBU] world title against [Javier Osvaldo] Alaves because I watched his tape and did not have the gut feeling of being scared. I was scared of Alex Arthur and blew him away. I annihilated him because being scared brings the best out of me. Now I'm mature and can see the fear helps. I'm scared of everybody. All it takes is one shot, one bad performance and it is gone again.” BBN: A fight with Alex Arthur must be high on your wish list but I hear the two of you are friends these days? MG: “No. There is no friendship between me and Alex. There is respect. Friend is the wrong word. We have a lot of respect between us and I know Carl Johanneson and respect him but we do not have friendship. Friendship is what I've got with my son. People have to understand that I respect these guys but it is not friendship. Respect can turn into anger with me. Destructive anger.” BBN: Is a fight with Johanneson for the British title one that interests you? MG: “Carl is very explosive. He is a good fighter. But to be rightful he should be scared of me. Michael Gomez is at his best when he is scared and Carl brings fear into me. He can bang and he is non-stop. He is Michael Gomez without the head movement and that is what it comes down to. We will just wait and see. Whoever wants it lets do it. People can say I'm washed-up but I'm still a name for you to try and get on your record. I was right up there in the past and I will get back there again.” BBN: Given you have had a rough career how seriously can we take this comeback? MG: “Very. Michael Gomez might play the fool but that doesn't mean I am a fool. I might play the thick out-of-control kid, but that doesn't mean I am the broken little Oliver Twist kid. Anyone who knows me knows I ain't as thick as I make myself out to be. “I will smash Johanneson, I will smash Arthur and I will smash Mitchell. I will smash Johanneson as I'm bench-pressing Arthur as long as TV is ready to put it on. I want to show people that I'm here and I ain't running anyway. Give me a piece of paper to sign and I'll sign it.” Boxing is the most pragmatic of sports. If it appears a come backing fighter is easier to hit, his skin is easier to cut and he is, as is the case with Gomez thus far, engaging in the monumental struggles he produced in his prime whilst having dropped down a few levels, then the fighter is probably not going to reclaim his former glories. This fear of being derailed – evidenced by Gomez's aggressive assault in the second and third rounds against Hamidi – may just spur Michael on. Gomez has immense odds stacked against him, maybe as high as 125-1, but given his mindset, and the fact that this interview was conducted as Michael worked-out on the cycling machine, this writer may cover himself with a little slice of that 125-1 just in case. http://www.britishboxing.net/news_1214-Go-mas.html http://www.britishboxing.net/news_1255-McDonagh-Gomez-The-Boxing-Union-of-Ireland-s-decision.html Photos By Allan Stevenson

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