Big Klit vs. Gomez Results & Discussion 3/21/09

[Wladimir Klitschko Sucks]

Fight News is reporting that Gomez is Vitalis #1 contenter and Vitali must face him. What do you think the outcome will be?

[Antonia Margarita]

that joker gomez is gonna get stopped & dropped, the end.
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[Kid Dynamite]

Joke of a fight. Vitaly should crush him.

[Dan Gunter]

JC Gomez as a number one contender? Wow.

[prototypeofamodernmadman]

Yes, if Yanqui Diaz could take care of Gomez inside of 1 round, I don't see this bout lasting very long, but, Vitali can probably strike a deal with the WBC where he gets to keep the belt, fight someone more attractive, and the winner faces Gomez, or something

[diggity]

gomez can box but he has nothing to keep VK off. He may win a few rounds but VK will ultimately walk him down and put him down. The Diaz fight was a bit of an aberration. Gomez was way out of shape for that fight and partied hard in Miami right up until the fight.

[diggity]

March 21st!
2 fights in a 6 month span for V.Klit?? Amazing
Haye goes on hold.
http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/box...ory?id=3845882

[Crold1]

The Diaz fight was just one of those things; better fighter got caught. Gomez is a deserving challenger. Virchis was a legitimate top ten contender and its funny that Haye, with all his hype, would be regarded as legit and Gomez not. Gomez is a better overall fighter and is a much sterner challenge, at least for Vitali. What it says about the Heavyweights I don't know, but Gomez is deserving and this is a fight where the underdog is live.

[HE Grant]

Wlad is a fighter that is always one punch away from defeat so anything is possible but I must say I give him credit for using the tools he does have to compensate for his weaknesses and build a decent title run ...

[diggity]

I'm looking forward to the fight this weekend. I am curious how Gomez will perform on a stage like this. Either way, I expect Vitaly to KO him late. Gomez is no slouch but Vitaly is just too difficult to prepare for & I am more concerned with Gomez's condition over Vitaly's in a long fight. It should be interesting while it lasts. Gomez is not known for his power but he is not a small guy & he has the physics to at least be in range to hit Vitaly. The fact he has speed & is a southpaw certainly does not hurt his chances.

[mrbig1]

No HBO? They have shown worst match ups than this one.

[mrbig1]

The fight will be on ESPN.

[Off The River]

The few time's I've seen Gomez, I have been impressed with his ability. I am sure he will pose a problem or two for Vitali and while I think it unlikely, I would not rule out an upset here.

[diggity]

5pm EST ESPN

[mrbig1]

I want to wait for the weigh in. If Gomez comes in over 230 then forget it. He needs to come in at about 220. He needs speed more than anything to have a shot. If Gomez can counter Vitali long right hand he can win. The way that Corrie Sander tried to do. For that fight Sanders was a fat pig. You have to out speed Klitschko not out punch him.

[mrbig1]

I can't believe no one cares about this fight. I think if Gomez is in shape he has a real shot at winning the title.

[diggity]

I think nobody cares about the heavyweights is the problem, but how can you blame anyone?

I am a fan of Vitaly and I have been watching Gomez carefully over the past 5 or 6 years & have seen all of his fights in that time. That being said, I honestly don't see him having anything special enough to combat what he is facing in Vitaly to see him coming away with this fight. It's not that I don't think Gomez is special, but Vitaly is a completely different package. I'm not even saying Vitaly is more gifted & etc, but Vitaly is a unique fighter to face who uses his strengths to his advantage just as well as he protects his weaknesses. To make matters worse, for a big guy Vitaly is deceivingly quick and punches from different angles whereas someone like Wlad appears pretty fast but is as predictable as it gets.

Gomez would have to get extremely, extremely lucky to KO Vitaly. His chin is not going to let him go down from 1, 2 or maybe even 3 of Gomez's best shots. It would take an accumulation for someone like Gomez to get Vitaly down & keep him down. Vitaly has not shown that he is prone to flash KDs either. Vitaly is a beast just to hit square, let alone hit hard & flush or often.

Stamina-wise, Gomez is no poster-boy. He has shown considerably less in that department than Vitaly which is not saying a lot since physics favor him. Vitaly has become more & more relaxed over the years to the point where I wondered if he was even awake when he stomped all over Peter. So I don't see success for Gomez if he is thinking of taking Vitaly deep & drowning him. Vitaly also only gets stronger as the fight progresses.

So in all Gomez has a really tall order (no pun indended). If I were in his corner & assuming he is in the best shape of his life, I would suggest him to keep Vitaly moving, wait on him to throw early on while trying to counter with flurrys, score flashy points & try to bank rounds while looking for the opportunity to land hard to the body. Gomez has good speed and a better than average reach, so on paper a gameplan like that sounds good. My problem with it all is, Gomez could have all the ability in the world, but I have yet to see a fight where I believe Gomez has shown he is the same grade of heavyweight that Vitaly has already shown.

Even if Gomez can deliver all of the above, he still has to contend with Vitaly's accuracy, power and his ability to cut off the ring well. The closest thing Vitaly faced to a Gomez is Byrd. He did well up to his own stoppage & Byrd is more elusive than Gomez ever was. Hey, crazier upsets have happened but I can't create a scenario that makes sense where I see Vitaly losing other than a TKO on cuts or injury.

[rocky111]

I believe Dig has the fight pretty well handicaped although I will say that Vitali is a much better boxer today using his gifts of size as opposed to the Byrd bout in which he was not as experienced.

[mrbig1]

I think nobody cares about the heavyweights is the problem, but how can you blame anyone?

I am a fan of Vitaly and I have been watching Gomez carefully over the past 5 or 6 years & have seen all of his fights in that time. That being said, I honestly don't see him having anything special enough to combat what he is facing in Vitaly to see him coming away with this fight. It's not that I don't think Gomez is special, but Vitaly is a completely different package. I'm not saying Vitaly is more gifted & etc, but Vitaly is a unique fighter to face who uses his strengths to his advantage just as well as he protects his weaknesses. To make matters worse, for a big guy Vitaly is deceivingly quick and punches from different angles whereas someone like Wlad appears fast so but as predictable as it gets.

Gomez would have to get extremely, extremely lucky to KO Vitaly. His chin is not going to let him go down from 1, 2 or maybe even 3 of Gomez's best shots. It would take an accumulation for someone like Gomez to get Vitaly down & keep him down. Vitaly has not shown that he is prone to flash KDs either. Vitaly is a beast just to hit square, let alone hit hard & flush.

Stamina-wise, Gomez is no poster-boy. He has shown considerably less in that department than Vitaly which is not saying a lot since physics favor him. Vitaly has become more & more relaxed over the years to the point where I wondered if he was even awake when he stomped all over Peter. So I don't see success for Gomez if he is thinking of taking Vitaly deep & drowning him. Vitaly also only gets stronger as the fight progresses.

So in all Gomez has a really tall order (no pun indended). If I were in his corner & assuming he is in the best shape of his life, I would suggest him to keep Vitaly moving, wait on him to throw early on while trying to counter with flurrys, score flashy points & try to bank rounds while looking for the opportunity to land hard to the body. Gomez has good speed and a better than average reach, so on paper a gameplan like that sounds good. My problem with it all is, Gomez could have all the ability in the world, but I have yet to see a fight where I believe Gomez has shown he is the same grade of heavyweight that Vitaly has already shown.

Even if Gomez can deliver all of the above, he still has to contend with Vitaly's accuracy, power and his ability to cut off the ring well. The closest thing Vitaly faced to a Gomez is Byrd. He did well up to his own stoppage & Byrd is more elusive than Gomez ever was. Hey, crazier upsets have happened but I can't create a scenario that makes sense where I see Vitaly losing other than a TKO on cuts or injury.

This is where you and I agree. The Key is to keep Vitali moving. Sanders had to plan to win, But he was too fat to carry it out. He countered vitali right with his straight left. If Gomez can do the same he has a shot. If I were a betting man I would take Vitali. Gomez would have to fight the perfect fight. Gomez is 35 and started boxing at the age of ten. I'm just saying he has a shot.

[mrbig1]

what time is the weigh in?

[diggity]

I imagine its in the next couple hours. I'm sure fightnews.com will have pics.

[mrbig1]

I imagine its in the next couple hours. I'm sure fightnews.com will have pics.

Thank you Sir.

[diggity]

The fight has been moved to ESPN Classic at 6pm (live) with an immediate replay at 7pm on ESPN2 (both EST).
It may also be available live online at espn360.com.

[diggity]

Supposedly Gomez weighed in at 230 & didn't take his shirt off.
Game over.

[mrbig1]

Supposedly Gomez weighed in at 230 & didn't take his shirt off.
Game over.

We're going to see Vitali vs Peter part 2.

[diggity]

Gomez didnt look like a slob & wore a tight white shirt. I don't think 230 is helping his chances. Vitaly looked better than I've ever seen him in my opinion.

[mrbig1]

I saw a video of Gomez vs McCall. He weigh 233 and looked slow. I saw other video of him at 221 and looked fast and sharp. He needs to be in shape and light on his feet. I thought if anyone could beat Vitali it would be Gomez who is himself a skilled fighter. I saw the pics that brother Diggity told us about. Gomez and Vitali looked in great shape. Can't wait until tomorrow.

[diggity]

It sounds like Gomez bought into the "I need more weight to compete at heavy" trap like most self conscious cruisers do. Where is the proof that it ever helped anyone of note?

[mrbig1]

You are right once again. To prove your point Michael Moorer fought Mike White and big foot Martin at 224. Later he fought and beat Evander Holyfield at 214.

[Dan Gunter]

And how much did Dempsey weigh when he crushed Willard?