By Matt Stein: WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko (36-2, 35 KOs) faces his bold talking number #1 challenger Juan Carlos Gomez (44-1, 35 KOs) this Saturday in a 12-round bout at the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer Halle, in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Gomez, 35, a former sparring partner for both Klitschko brothers and a former undefeated WBC cruiserweight champion from 1998-2001, is apparently primed for his bout against the 37-year-old Vitali, saying that he will destroy him and will “beat his face in.”
If this was a fighter that had previously had a record of being beaten by quality opponents, it would be easy to dismiss a lot of what he says. However, Gomez, from Cuba, has backed up what he’s said throughout his 14-year pro career. A stand out amateur with a record of 158-12 for the Cuban National team before turning pro, Gomez has only once blemish on his record since moving up to the heavyweight division in 2001, a 1st round TKO loss to Yanqui Diaz in August 2004.
In that fight, Gomez was rocked early by Diaz and was weathering the storm of shots when the referee suddenly pulled the plug on him and didn’t allow him to get out of the 1st. It looked as if Gomez would have made it out of the round intact. Nevertheless, he learned from the defeat and has since then won seven fights, beating the likes of Oliver McCall and Vladimir Virchis.
At 6’3 233, Gomez will be giving up five inches in height and roughly 15 pounds in weight to the 6’7″ 247 pound Vitali. The reach, which is perhaps the most important factor in comparing the size of these two fighters, is virtually the same with each fighter sporting an 80″ reach.
With 35 knockouts in 36 wins, it’s clear that Vitali is the much harder puncher. However, Gomez has the better hand speed, foot quickness, and much better combinations. His speed may more than equalize his other disadvantages, and being the more active fighter in the past four years, a time when Vitali was in retirement, Gomez may figure to be the more durable fighter over the long haul.
Vitali is coming off a 9th round stoppage over WBC heavyweight champion Samuel Peter in October 2008. In that fight, Vitali, making his first appearance in the ring in four long years, was able to control the fight with his jab, short left hooks and right hands.
The victory was made easier in that Peter was both shorter, at 6’0”, and much slower than him. With Peter’s only chance at winning being a slight chance that he might land a big punch against the sturdy-chinned Vitali, it soon became apparent that Vitali wasn’t going to be bothered by Peter’s shots.
With his powerful shots having virtually no effect on the huge Vitali, Peter found himself a sitting duck for Vitali’s massive right hands and short left hooks as the rounds progressed. Finally, with Peter’s face swollen and bloody, he quit on his stool after the 8th round ended.
Gomez recently defeated Vladimir Virchis by a one-sided 12-round unanimous decision in September 2008 in the WBC heavyweight title eliminator match. Virchis, a 6’4” Ukrainian fighter with power, size and speed not unlike that of Vitali, was simply too slow for Gomez and found himself eating combination after combination for 12 rounds.
Though he was clearly the harder puncher of the two, Virchis didn’t have the ability to put his shots together like Gomez and didn’t have the speed to match the Cuban’s quick combinations. Naturally, it’s difficult to watch this fight and not draw parallels to a fight against Vitali. Virchis may not be quite as large as Vitali, but he’s close enough to draw a conclusion that Vitali may find it hard to match the quicker output from Gomez.
Prediction: Gomez by 10th round TKO
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