by James Slater: In news that this writer for one sees as slightly depressing, it must be said, lightweight sensation Amir Khan will face the tough, yet faded Michael Gomez in his next fight this coming June 21st in Birmingham. This news, as well as being given at an official press conference to promote the contest, is now up on Frank Warren’s website as we speak. At first, as reported earlier on Eastside Boxing, it seemed Khan would face former WBA light-welterweight champion Gavin Rees. The suggestion of this fight itself got a fair amount of criticism from the posters, who felt Rees was unworthy of a bout with hotshot Khan.. What these same fans will say now Gomez has been chosen instead remains to be seen!
Gomez is tough. He comes to fight each and every time out, is a good puncher, trains hard and is exciting. That’s the good news. The bad news is the fact that Gomez, aside from being a badly faded fighter who has already engaged in a number of brutal fights, is a natural super-featherweight. Yes, the 30 year old has boxed up at Khan’s weight of 135 pounds before, but his best form was definitely shown down at 130 pounds. Standing only 5’5,” the Manchester hard man is, quite simply, no match for the former Olympic silver medallist.
This does not mean Gomez will not try when the fight rolls around, nor is there any chance he will fail to talk a very good fight in the build-up – Michael is one of the best talkers in the game, and is capable of convincing people he will win whoever he fights. Indeed, you can look for an exceptionally entertaining spell of tough trash talking as the biggest fight of his entire career approaches!
In reality, however, Gomez, currently 35-8(24), is another safe opponent for hot prospect Khan. In his last meaningful fight, Gomez was stopped, in yet another thrilling encounter, by Carl Johanneson in six rounds last October. And, again indicating how he is too small for the bigger Khan, this fight was down at super-featherweight. If Johanneson, a decent, if vulnerable puncher, proved to be too strong for Gomez, what chance does the Manchester warrior have against the powerful 21 year old?
Make no mistake, though he was once a good enough fighter to have handed “Amazing” Alex Arthur his only pro defeat (in an absolute classic of a fight, too), Gomez is way past that form today. Sure, since his upset of Arthur Gomez has had some good wins – over the likes of the dangerous Leva Kirakosyan, for one – but this form too was a number of years ago. Since his win over Kirakosyan, Gomez has lost three times, all by stoppage. Worse still, he has not registered a single win over a fighter with a winning record.
As nice a guy as he is, as exciting as he has been during his career and as much as he deserves a good pay day before he retires, Michael Gomez is a very poor choice of opponent for the word title-bound Amir Khan. Look for the 21 year old to take out the hittable Gomez inside five rounds.