Gomez on the go
Bloomfield's Joe Gomez headlines Sky Ute card Saturday . . . with Durango's Elco Garcia

Story & photos by Chris Cozzone

Unable to get a showdown against another New Mexican, Bloomfield, New Mexico’s Joe "Ironman" Gomez says he’s moving up and out of the club level scene, whether he gets the fights he wants, or not.

“I wanted to do it for the fans,” says Gomez, considered one of four top welterweights in New Mexico. “They deserve to know who the best welterweight is in the state. But I can’t chase these guys forever.

“I wanted Hector Munoz—but he turned me down three times now. I wanted Ray Sanchez III and Joaquin Zamora—but they weren’t interested, either. So, I guess, it’s time to move on, without them.”

Munoz, who returned to action in February, is talking 140 pounds instead of 147, while Sanchez and Zamora have recently signed to fight one another on a Top Rank card July 11 at Isleta Casino in Albuquerque.

“I’m glad to see [Sanchez and Zamora] are fighting,” says Gomez. “It’s a good fight for New Mexico—maybe I’ll get the winner. But if it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen. I have to keep on going on.”

This Saturday night, headlining the year’s debut card for the Sky Ute Casino in Ignacio, Colo., Gomez, 14-1-1, 7 KOs, will take on Abel “Jazzy” Perry, 9-1, 3 KOs, of Portland, Ore., in an eight-rounder at 149.

“Nothing’s changed for this fight,” says Gomez. “I don’t consider it a tune-up—I take every fight seriously. I’ve been hitting it hard.

“I’ve seen a couple videos on Perry. He’s fought guys who just stand there in front of him. He’s going to find out how different it is when he fights someone like me.”

The Portland fighter—who’s been training in the mile-high elevation of Denver for Gomez—will not be the only one fighting a different breed of opposition.

“I’m used to fighting shorter guys, says Gomez. “But Perry is my size. Shorter guys have given me trouble.”

In his last bout, in January, Gomez barely eked out a split verdict over the shorter, game Rudy Hernandez, of San Antonio, Tex. Postfight, Gomez’s face was noticeably marked by Hernandez’s overhand right bombs.

“That last fight changed training—we do it harder and harder, now,” says Gomez. “I didn’t throw enough combinations in that fight. I think he was someone I could’ve stopped.

“I was also having a hard time making weight.”

Since he was 18, Gomez, now 23, has been a welterweight. But now, he says, it’s getting harder and harder to make weight.

“My body is maturing and it’s getting impossible to make welter,” says Gomez. “After this fight, I’m going to 154.”

Unless, says Gomez, he gets an offer from Munoz, Sanchez or Zamora to fight at 147. In that case, Gomez notes, “I’ll train my butt off and starve, if it means fighting one of them.”

If not, then there may be local showdowns awaiting Gomez at junior middleweight—possibly, one with Elco “The Animal” Garcia, of nearby Durango, Colo.

What will mark Saturday night’s card off as unusual, is, it will be the first time that the top two draws in the Four Corners area—Gomez and Garcia—will be fighting on the same card.

Garcia, 19-7, 9 KOs, was a Sky Ute headliner as far back as 2000, but hasn’t been on a card in Ignacio since 2005. In his last five bouts, Garcia has dropped four fights, though they have all been against name fighters. On Saturday, Garcia will get a welcome break when he is matched a bit more favorably against Skyler Johnson, 11-2-1, 9 KOs, of Rockford, Ill.

“No one’s said anything about it yet, but I think that’s honestly why they’re putting us on both on the same card,” says Gomez.

“It’s a possibility, and the question has lingered in the gym. If everything works out? Sure. Elco is a pretty good friend, and we’ve helped each other out sparring one another, but, in the ring, there are no friends.”

. . . .

The undercard for Saturday night’s fights include four bouts: In a jr. lightweight bout, Farmington's Joe Barela (5-2, 2 KOs) will rematch Albuquerque's Scott Furney (2-3-1, 1 KO) in a five-rounder; former world champ Terri Cruz (16-5-2, 7 KOs) will go eight at 118, against an opponent TBD; former world champ Adriana Delgado (10-2-1, 4 KOs), of Albuquerque, will make a comeback after a five-year retirement, to take on San Diego's Heather Donohue (5-1-1) in a five-rounder; and Albuquerque’s Vincent “Li’l Man” Mirabal will make a pro debut against Silvanus Morris (0-2), of Blanding, Utah.

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