Welterweight contender Alfonso Gomez (18-3-2, 8 KOs) won a harder than expected unanimous decision over former lightweight start Ben Tackie (29-8-1, 17 KOs) on Tuesday night at the Home Depot Center, in Carson, California. Gomez, 26, a former fighter from the reality television series “The Contender” controlled virtually every round of the fight as he outworked the older 34-year old Tackie with a high volume punch out. However, though Tackie landed far less punches, his more powerful shots badly marked up Gomez’s face and him in full retreat in the last two rounds of the fight. The final judges’ scores were 98-92, 98-92, 97-93, awarding Gomez the decision.
Gomez, hoping to land a future bout with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in early 2008, boxed circles round the slower, less active Tackie in rounds one though seven, making him look old in comparison. Gomez used his jab, superior movement and combinations to keep Tackie on the outside and bottled up for most of the bout. Tackie, however, kept up with his usual constant pressure, forcing the younger Gomez to throw a lot of punches, much more than he had to do in his last bout against the washed up Arturo Gatti.
In the seventh round, Gomez’s right eye began swelling up from the heavy right hands that Tackie was pouring in the last couple of rounds. In rounds right through ten, Tackie pressed forward, throwing constant shots and looking like fellow countryman Azumah Nelson as he unloaded powerful blasts to the head of Gomez. For his part, Gomez kept his composure and didn’t wilt, yet he appeared to look a little worried and clearly lost the final three rounds of the fight. Overall, Gomez looked impressive for an unranked fighter, and likely took good for the young Julio Cesar Chavez jr. too beat at this stage of his career.