VIDEOTAPE OF “GREAT” FIGHT FOR YOU
Wilfredo Gomez-Lupe Pintor Now
San Francisco, CA– The stage was set. The grudge filled rivalry that is Mexico vs. Puerto Rico was in play here. In Lupe Pintor’s corner you will see WBC President Jose Sulaiman. Across the ring with champion Wilfredo Gomez was the great late Yamil Charde. Simply put, Yamil Charde was the Godfather of Puerto Rican boxing. The referee was the iconic Arthur Mercante Sr.
AMERICA’S VOICE OF BOXING, TV, MORE!
Introducing the fighters was the late Jimmy Lennon Sr. Being March 3, 1982, this was “old school” boxing at it’s best with Don King in his prime. Lennon Sr., a household face who appeared on countless television shows and feature films, his voice was pure Americana. Mr. Lennon, that’s what I called him, to everybody else he was just Jimmy, passed in 1992.
HOPE YOU ARE READY FOR VIDEO OF PURE VIOLENCE
While writing a piece on the fight round by round, I realized I could not do it justice. Therefore, here it is broken up into YouTube.com segments. Having watched it again all I can ask is that from one to ten, how would you rate this epic encounter? A 12? At the end of the videos below, I’ll offer some final words and the scorecards.
PART 1 OF 7
PART 2 OF 7
PART 3 OF 7
PART 4 OF 7
PART 5 OF 7
PART 6 OF 7
FINAL SEGMENT
HELL OF A FIGHT FOLKS!
The scores after 13 complete rounds had Harold Lederman for Gomez 125-121, Dick Cole had Gomez 125-120, while Artie Adiala saw Pintor the better man at 124-123. My scorecard was 125-120 for Gomez.
WHAT HAPPENED NEXT FOR THESE GUYS?
Pintor would eventually win the WBC 122 lb. title that Gomez vacated by besting Juan “Kid Meza in 1985. In his first defense, he was creamed in Thailand by Samart Payakaron (11-0). He had seven more fights, some part of a 1994-95 ill-fated comeback, won two and was drilled in his final bout by Russell Mosley (7-16-1) in Tijuana.
GOMEZ ROSE, FELL, GOT UP, & GOT FAT!
Wilfredo Gomez, the best 122 lb. fighter in history is now weighing around 250 lbs. But hey, Wilfredo is happy and says he is clean. He had eight fights after Pintor, going 6-2. Gomez beat Juan Laporte at 126 (the only man to go the distance and lose to Wilfredo) via UD 12 before he lost to Azumah Nelson (KO 11) before ascending to 130. One win was a MD 15 robbery win over WBA 130 lb. king Rocky Lockridge in 1985. Losing the WBA laurels to Alfredo Layne in 1986, Gomez had a win at 133 lbs. in 1988, and scaled 142 for his final bout, a win over 4-19 Mario Salazar.
FINAL NUMBERS FOR BOTH MEN
Gomez retired 44-3-1, 42 KOs. He had 21 WBC title fights, losing 2. The WBA title claim was short lived as he lost to Alfredo Layne right after the Lockridge heist. Lupe Pintor, with the exception of the WBC 122 lb. surprise win over Juan “Kid” Meza, crashed and burned after Gomez, going 8-7-1, finishing up at 56-14-2, 42 KOs.
Pedro Fernandez