WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.040 Okay, let's unpack this. In the world of sports, 00:00:02.259 --> 00:00:04.620 we love a good nickname, right? Right. But usually 00:00:04.620 --> 00:00:07.400 they're just marketing fluff. The king, the chosen 00:00:07.400 --> 00:00:10.339 one, the truth. They sound cool, but they don't 00:00:10.339 --> 00:00:12.140 really tell you how the athlete plays. Right. 00:00:12.300 --> 00:00:14.339 But then, you know, every once in a blue moon, 00:00:14.359 --> 00:00:16.579 you get a nickname that's basically a warning 00:00:16.579 --> 00:00:19.920 label. A literal description of the physics involved. 00:00:20.140 --> 00:00:22.920 You are talking about bazooka. Wilfredo Bazooka 00:00:22.920 --> 00:00:26.870 Gomez. Today, we are diving deep into the life 00:00:26.870 --> 00:00:29.469 of the man who many, many people argue is the 00:00:29.469 --> 00:00:31.789 greatest puncher Puerto Rico has ever produced. 00:00:32.250 --> 00:00:34.929 And I know greatest is a loaded word. It starts 00:00:34.929 --> 00:00:36.929 arguments. But you have a statistic that you 00:00:36.929 --> 00:00:39.729 say ends the debate right there. I do. And honestly, 00:00:39.890 --> 00:00:41.789 it's the main reason we're doing this deep dive. 00:00:42.030 --> 00:00:44.530 If you just strip away all the nostalgia, all 00:00:44.530 --> 00:00:46.729 the hype, and you look at the cold, hard data, 00:00:47.070 --> 00:00:49.429 Wilfredo Gomez did something that nobody else 00:00:49.429 --> 00:00:52.630 has. Not Ali, not Tyson, not Canelo. All right, 00:00:52.649 --> 00:00:55.960 hit me with it. magic number 17 specifically 00:00:55.960 --> 00:01:00.359 17 consecutive knockouts in championship title 00:01:00.359 --> 00:01:03.340 defenses wait say that again once he won the 00:01:03.340 --> 00:01:07.680 belt he defended it 17 times in a row and every 00:01:07.680 --> 00:01:10.040 single one of his opponents was either unconscious 00:01:10.909 --> 00:01:13.310 or just couldn't continue that is the all -time 00:01:13.310 --> 00:01:15.489 record across every single weight division in 00:01:15.489 --> 00:01:17.269 the history of boxing that sounds like a video 00:01:17.269 --> 00:01:19.730 game stat like you set the difficulty to easy 00:01:19.730 --> 00:01:21.950 17 title fights without ever needing a judge 00:01:21.950 --> 00:01:25.030 exactly and in modern boxing that's well it's 00:01:25.030 --> 00:01:27.290 basically statistically impossible promoters 00:01:27.290 --> 00:01:29.689 protect fighters guys fight maybe once a year 00:01:29.689 --> 00:01:32.209 gomez was fighting three four times a year against 00:01:32.209 --> 00:01:35.510 the best guys and just violently finishing all 00:01:35.510 --> 00:01:37.739 of them So that's the bazooka part. But looking 00:01:37.739 --> 00:01:39.640 at the stack of research you've pulled, it seems 00:01:39.640 --> 00:01:42.799 like that explosive power came with a massive 00:01:42.799 --> 00:01:45.900 amount of collateral damage, both in and out 00:01:45.900 --> 00:01:47.299 of the ring. And that's the mission for this 00:01:47.299 --> 00:01:49.099 deep dive. We have to trace that whole trajectory. 00:01:49.280 --> 00:01:51.540 I mean, it's a story about a kid rising from 00:01:51.540 --> 00:01:54.620 extreme poverty in San Juan becoming this this 00:01:54.620 --> 00:01:58.680 national deity. And then that slow, painful unraveling 00:01:58.680 --> 00:02:00.540 that happens when the cheering stops. We're going 00:02:00.540 --> 00:02:02.219 to look at the fights, of course. But we also 00:02:02.219 --> 00:02:05.439 have to talk about. A stadium collapse in Thailand, 00:02:05.620 --> 00:02:10.699 a tragic car crash in Mexico, and, well, a hostage 00:02:10.699 --> 00:02:13.960 situation in 2022 that honestly reads like a 00:02:13.960 --> 00:02:16.500 movie script. It's a heavy one, but let's start 00:02:16.500 --> 00:02:18.520 where all good stories start, the beginning. 00:02:18.659 --> 00:02:21.259 We're going to Las Monjas. Right, Las Monjas 00:02:21.259 --> 00:02:23.680 in the Jare district of San Juan. We're talking 00:02:23.680 --> 00:02:27.539 1950s Puerto Rico. Gomez was born in October 00:02:27.539 --> 00:02:30.460 56, and the source material is really specific 00:02:30.460 --> 00:02:32.520 about the environment. This is not a story of 00:02:32.520 --> 00:02:34.960 privilege. His dad was a taxi driver. His mom 00:02:34.960 --> 00:02:37.879 was a homemaker. They were scraping by. I saw 00:02:37.879 --> 00:02:39.539 a note here about a bicycle that really stuck 00:02:39.539 --> 00:02:41.479 with me. Yeah, that's the iconic image of his 00:02:41.479 --> 00:02:43.419 youth, you know. He wasn't getting dropped off 00:02:43.419 --> 00:02:46.479 at some fancy gym in an SUV. He was this scrawny 00:02:46.479 --> 00:02:49.400 kid on a beat -up bicycle just hustling, selling 00:02:49.400 --> 00:02:51.680 candy on the streets to make pocket money. It 00:02:51.680 --> 00:02:53.900 paints that picture of that classic hunger, both 00:02:53.900 --> 00:02:56.009 literally and figuratively. He didn't just want 00:02:56.009 --> 00:02:58.349 to fight. He needed to fight. And usually with 00:02:58.349 --> 00:03:00.069 these stories, you hear about the kid getting 00:03:00.069 --> 00:03:02.969 beaten up and learning to defend himself. But 00:03:02.969 --> 00:03:04.889 reading his amateur record, it seems like Gomez 00:03:04.889 --> 00:03:07.729 just came with the hardware pre -installed. Oh, 00:03:07.770 --> 00:03:09.990 he was a prodigy. There's really no other word 00:03:09.990 --> 00:03:12.150 for it. He started amateur boxing and put together 00:03:12.150 --> 00:03:15.110 a record that is just, it's frankly terrifying. 00:03:15.599 --> 00:03:18.960 96 wins, three defeats. 96 and three. That's 00:03:18.960 --> 00:03:21.259 absurd. But amateur boxing is usually about points, 00:03:21.319 --> 00:03:23.219 right? Just tagging the other guy. Is he knocking 00:03:23.219 --> 00:03:25.680 people out back then, too? He was, yeah. He had 00:03:25.680 --> 00:03:28.219 that heavy -handed quality even as a teenager. 00:03:28.460 --> 00:03:31.580 He went to the 1972 Munich Olympics, which is 00:03:31.580 --> 00:03:33.479 a whole other story. But he got bounced in the 00:03:33.479 --> 00:03:35.939 first round. He was young, but he learned fast. 00:03:36.099 --> 00:03:38.759 By 74, he's winning gold at the World Championships 00:03:38.759 --> 00:03:40.620 in Asana. Okay, so here's where the timeline 00:03:40.620 --> 00:03:43.439 gets interesting for me. If you win the Worlds 00:03:43.439 --> 00:03:46.960 in 74, the 1976 Montreal Olympics are right there. 00:03:47.039 --> 00:03:49.099 That's the golden ticket. You win Olympic gold, 00:03:49.240 --> 00:03:51.819 you get the big signing bonus. Why didn't he 00:03:51.819 --> 00:03:55.099 wait? That is the critical question. And it brings 00:03:55.099 --> 00:03:57.039 us right back to that bicycle and selling candy. 00:03:57.479 --> 00:03:59.680 It was simple economics. The source material 00:03:59.680 --> 00:04:02.500 really emphasizes that his family was struggling. 00:04:02.620 --> 00:04:05.080 And two years is a long time when you're broke. 00:04:05.280 --> 00:04:07.639 He couldn't afford the luxury of waiting. He 00:04:07.639 --> 00:04:09.860 had to cash in on his hands right away. Wow. 00:04:10.659 --> 00:04:13.379 That's a tough choice for a teenager. So he turns 00:04:13.379 --> 00:04:16.860 pro, but he doesn't go to Vegas or Madison Square 00:04:16.860 --> 00:04:19.620 Garden. No. And this shows you how gritty the 00:04:19.620 --> 00:04:23.009 sport was back then. He moved to Panama. Panama. 00:04:23.069 --> 00:04:25.389 Why Panama? It was a hotbed for boxing in Latin 00:04:25.389 --> 00:04:28.029 America. But it wasn't glamorous at all. He basically 00:04:28.029 --> 00:04:31.329 used Panama as a home base to tour Central America, 00:04:31.490 --> 00:04:34.050 fighting in these humid, hostile little arenas 00:04:34.050 --> 00:04:35.750 for small paydays. It was a real apprenticeship. 00:04:36.170 --> 00:04:38.949 And weirdly enough, for a guy we know as a knockout 00:04:38.949 --> 00:04:42.069 artist, his professional debut was a dud. I was 00:04:42.069 --> 00:04:44.069 surprised by this in the notes. A draw. Yeah. 00:04:44.149 --> 00:04:47.649 Panama City, November 1974. He fights a guy named 00:04:47.649 --> 00:04:50.660 Jacinto Fuentes. Six rounds, the judges scored 00:04:50.660 --> 00:04:53.060 in a draw. Imagine being in the crowd that night. 00:04:53.139 --> 00:04:55.240 You're watching this kid debut. He looks okay, 00:04:55.339 --> 00:04:57.759 but you have no idea you're watching the future 00:04:57.759 --> 00:05:00.519 of the sport. It is the ultimate calm before 00:05:00.519 --> 00:05:03.699 the storm because after that draw, something 00:05:03.699 --> 00:05:07.579 just clicked. Maybe he got angry, but he did 00:05:07.579 --> 00:05:09.819 not leave it to the judges again for a very, 00:05:09.860 --> 00:05:13.000 very long time. This is the start of the streak. 00:05:13.160 --> 00:05:16.110 The streak. After that draw. Gomez went on an 00:05:16.110 --> 00:05:20.089 absolute rampage. 32 consecutive knockouts. Hold 00:05:20.089 --> 00:05:23.769 on. 32 fights in a row? 32 fights. 32 knockouts. 00:05:24.089 --> 00:05:26.490 And he even circled back to clean up his record. 00:05:26.709 --> 00:05:29.689 He fought Jacinto Fuentes again, the guy he drew 00:05:29.689 --> 00:05:31.829 with. Let me guess. It didn't go to the scorecard. 00:05:31.949 --> 00:05:35.459 Knockout. Round two, he was settling debts. And 00:05:35.459 --> 00:05:38.060 just for context, that streak ties in with Deontay 00:05:38.060 --> 00:05:39.959 Wilder for one of the longest knockout streaks 00:05:39.959 --> 00:05:42.879 in history. But Gomez was doing it at super bantamweight, 00:05:42.959 --> 00:05:45.600 where that kind of one -punch power is way, way 00:05:45.600 --> 00:05:47.959 rare. So he's tearing through everyone. He needs 00:05:47.959 --> 00:05:52.800 a title shot. And he gets it. May 1977. But this 00:05:52.800 --> 00:05:55.120 is where we see the heart behind the power. He's 00:05:55.120 --> 00:05:57.199 fighting Dong -Kun Yum, the champion from South 00:05:57.199 --> 00:05:59.379 Korea. The fight's in San Juan. The atmosphere 00:05:59.379 --> 00:06:02.339 is electric. And 30 seconds into the fight. Gomez 00:06:02.339 --> 00:06:04.680 is on the canvas. Bazooka gets dropped. Flat 00:06:04.680 --> 00:06:07.199 on his back. The whole crowd just goes silent. 00:06:07.639 --> 00:06:09.560 This is the moment where a bully usually folds, 00:06:09.720 --> 00:06:11.639 you know? Yeah. Guys who are used to dishing 00:06:11.639 --> 00:06:13.759 it out but can't take it. Right. The everyone 00:06:13.759 --> 00:06:15.800 has a plan to only get punched in the mouth moment. 00:06:16.060 --> 00:06:20.160 Exactly. But Gomez got up. He shook it off, picked 00:06:20.160 --> 00:06:22.620 it out of his mouthpiece, and just dragged Yum 00:06:22.620 --> 00:06:24.860 into a war. He ended up knocking him out in the 00:06:24.860 --> 00:06:27.339 12th round. That proved he wasn't just a hammer. 00:06:27.439 --> 00:06:31.199 He was an anvil, too. So he's the champ. A national 00:06:31.199 --> 00:06:34.060 hero. But there's a story in your notes about 00:06:34.060 --> 00:06:37.220 a title defense in Thailand that I had to read 00:06:37.220 --> 00:06:39.019 it twice because it sounds like a horror story. 00:06:39.120 --> 00:06:41.120 It is. And it's a story that often gets buried. 00:06:41.160 --> 00:06:43.259 We have to talk about it. He was fighting Sagat 00:06:43.259 --> 00:06:46.949 Petchinindi. A serious fighter soggit actually 00:06:46.949 --> 00:06:48.970 inspired the character in the Street Fighter 00:06:48.970 --> 00:06:51.329 video games. Wait, really? The guy with the eye 00:06:51.329 --> 00:06:54.149 patch? The very same. But the opponent wasn't 00:06:54.149 --> 00:06:56.110 the issue that night. It was the venue. They 00:06:56.110 --> 00:06:58.170 were in this stadium in Thailand. It was wildly 00:06:58.170 --> 00:07:01.389 overcrowded. And before the main event, a structural 00:07:01.389 --> 00:07:04.410 column just gave way. The building collapsed. 00:07:04.829 --> 00:07:07.910 A partial collapse. It was absolute chaos. Ten 00:07:07.910 --> 00:07:10.730 people died. Three hundred were injured. Sirens. 00:07:10.769 --> 00:07:13.110 People screaming. Debris everywhere. And they? 00:07:13.870 --> 00:07:15.790 They let the fight happen. That's the part that's 00:07:15.790 --> 00:07:18.050 just so hard to process today. You'd cancel the 00:07:18.050 --> 00:07:21.509 event immediately. But this was 1978. The organizers, 00:07:21.790 --> 00:07:25.250 the TV money, they cleared the ring, ignored 00:07:25.250 --> 00:07:27.610 the tragedy unfolding in the stands, and they 00:07:27.610 --> 00:07:31.029 rang the bell. That is unbelievable. How do you 00:07:31.029 --> 00:07:32.949 even focus on a fight when people just died 50 00:07:32.949 --> 00:07:35.149 feet away from you? It speaks to the terrifying 00:07:35.149 --> 00:07:37.629 focus of a fighter. You have to shut off your 00:07:37.629 --> 00:07:40.519 humanity to do what they do. Gomez shut everything 00:07:40.519 --> 00:07:42.560 off. He went out and knocked Pechini out in two 00:07:42.560 --> 00:07:44.920 rounds. It's impressive, but it's also chilling. 00:07:45.019 --> 00:07:48.019 It adds this really dark layer to that 17 knockout 00:07:48.019 --> 00:07:50.560 record. It wasn't just sport. It was blood sport. 00:07:50.819 --> 00:07:53.800 It was. And the streak just kept building. Which 00:07:53.800 --> 00:07:55.699 leads us to the collision course. The biggest 00:07:55.699 --> 00:07:57.480 fight of his life. The battles of the little 00:07:57.480 --> 00:08:00.240 giants. Carlos Zárate. Carlos Zárate. And we 00:08:00.240 --> 00:08:02.899 have to set the stage here. Zárate was the bantamweight 00:08:02.899 --> 00:08:05.939 champion from Mexico. A legend. He came into 00:08:05.939 --> 00:08:08.980 the fight with a record of 55 wins, zero losses. 00:08:09.439 --> 00:08:12.839 Okay, 55 and 0 is incredible. It gets better. 00:08:13.079 --> 00:08:16.139 54 knockouts. Stop it. So you have Gomez with 00:08:16.139 --> 00:08:19.540 his streak and Zarate with a 98 % knockout ratio. 00:08:19.779 --> 00:08:21.399 This is basically King Kong versus Godzilla. 00:08:21.639 --> 00:08:24.079 And the Puerto Rico versus Mexico boxing rivalry 00:08:24.079 --> 00:08:28.860 is maybe the most intense in the sport. The nationalism, 00:08:29.160 --> 00:08:33.100 the pressure. They met in San Juan. Everyone 00:08:33.100 --> 00:08:36.799 expected this long, grueling war. It was a massacre. 00:08:37.279 --> 00:08:41.360 But not both ways. Gomez just destroyed him, 00:08:41.379 --> 00:08:43.980 overwhelmed him with power. He stopped an undefeated 00:08:43.980 --> 00:08:45.860 legend in the fifth round. That has to be the 00:08:45.860 --> 00:08:47.779 peak, right? That is the moment you are on top 00:08:47.779 --> 00:08:49.940 of Everett. It was the absolute apex. He was 00:08:49.940 --> 00:08:51.759 arguably the best pound for pound fighter in 00:08:51.759 --> 00:08:54.519 the world. But as we see in so many of these 00:08:54.519 --> 00:08:57.919 stories, the peak is a dangerous place. Because 00:08:57.919 --> 00:08:59.500 where do you go from there? You look for bigger 00:08:59.500 --> 00:09:01.919 dragons to slay. And the bigger dragon was Salvador 00:09:01.919 --> 00:09:04.559 Sanchez. The legendary Chava Sanchez. So Gomez 00:09:04.559 --> 00:09:06.279 decides to move up in weight to featherweight 00:09:06.279 --> 00:09:09.230 to challenge him. Now, moving up only a few pounds 00:09:09.230 --> 00:09:11.789 doesn't sound like a big deal, but at those weights, 00:09:11.889 --> 00:09:14.190 it's a massive percentage of your body mass. 00:09:14.429 --> 00:09:17.129 The guys are just naturally bigger. And Sanchez 00:09:17.129 --> 00:09:19.309 wasn't just bigger. He was a master technician, 00:09:19.509 --> 00:09:22.409 right? A genius. An absolute genius in the ring. 00:09:22.509 --> 00:09:25.710 Incredible cardio, an iron shin. They met in 00:09:25.710 --> 00:09:29.070 Vegas in 81, and this time, the bazooka misfired. 00:09:29.129 --> 00:09:31.250 He hit Sanchez with everything he had, and Sanchez 00:09:31.250 --> 00:09:33.600 just... Smiled at him. Gomez started taking a 00:09:33.600 --> 00:09:35.679 beating. The bully finally met someone he couldn't 00:09:35.679 --> 00:09:37.379 bully. And he was stopped in the eighth round. 00:09:37.460 --> 00:09:40.080 His first loss as a pro, it devastated him. I 00:09:40.080 --> 00:09:41.840 think he had bought into his own invincibility. 00:09:42.000 --> 00:09:43.820 But he didn't quit. And I think this next part 00:09:43.820 --> 00:09:46.279 is what makes the story so tragic. He was obsessed 00:09:46.279 --> 00:09:48.539 with getting a rematch. Totally obsessed. He 00:09:48.539 --> 00:09:50.460 went back down to Super Bantamweight, defended 00:09:50.460 --> 00:09:52.500 his title, beat some good guys, but he was always 00:09:52.500 --> 00:09:55.860 just waiting. He needed to beat Sanchez to make 00:09:55.860 --> 00:09:57.860 his soul whole again. But he never got the chance. 00:09:58.039 --> 00:10:02.559 No. August 12, 1982. Salvador Sanchez was driving 00:10:02.559 --> 00:10:05.279 his Porsche in Mexico. He crashed, died instantly. 00:10:05.480 --> 00:10:09.100 That's just gut -wrenching. For Gomez, his defining 00:10:09.100 --> 00:10:11.860 rival is just gone. There's no closure. None. 00:10:12.279 --> 00:10:14.539 And there's a moment here that I think really 00:10:14.539 --> 00:10:17.419 speaks to Gomez's character. He was scheduled 00:10:17.419 --> 00:10:19.860 to defend his own title just five days later. 00:10:20.159 --> 00:10:23.220 But when he heard the news, he stopped his training 00:10:23.220 --> 00:10:25.950 camp. He flew to Mexico. In the middle of fight 00:10:25.950 --> 00:10:27.950 week. In the middle of fight week. He went to 00:10:27.950 --> 00:10:30.190 the funeral, offered flowers to the family of 00:10:30.190 --> 00:10:32.289 the man who beat him, paid his respects, and 00:10:32.289 --> 00:10:34.370 then flew back to Puerto Rico that same afternoon 00:10:34.370 --> 00:10:37.110 to finish his weight cut. That is pure class. 00:10:37.590 --> 00:10:41.129 Just total respect. It is. He won his fight that 00:10:41.129 --> 00:10:43.750 weekend, but you could tell something had changed. 00:10:43.990 --> 00:10:47.110 The fire was different. He did eventually move 00:10:47.110 --> 00:10:49.659 up and win the featherweight title. The one he 00:10:49.659 --> 00:10:52.000 failed to get from Sanchez by beating Juan Laporte. 00:10:52.220 --> 00:10:54.460 So he became a two -weight champion. But the 00:10:54.460 --> 00:10:57.419 clock was ticking. It was. The lifestyle was 00:10:57.419 --> 00:10:59.220 catching up. The training camps were getting 00:10:59.220 --> 00:11:01.720 shorter. The partying longer. He lost the title 00:11:01.720 --> 00:11:04.460 to Azuma Nelson, another all -time great by knockout. 00:11:04.580 --> 00:11:07.080 And yet he kept going. Why do they always keep 00:11:07.080 --> 00:11:10.899 going? Money. Ego. It's their identity. He moved 00:11:10.899 --> 00:11:13.120 up again to super featherweight and fought Rocky 00:11:13.120 --> 00:11:15.879 Lockridge for a third world title. And the judges 00:11:15.879 --> 00:11:18.870 gave it to Gomez. I hear a but in your voice 00:11:18.870 --> 00:11:21.370 there. It was. Well, it was a gift, a hometown 00:11:21.370 --> 00:11:23.830 decision. Yeah. Most people felt Lockridge won 00:11:23.830 --> 00:11:27.129 that fight pretty clearly. Gomez was a shadow 00:11:27.129 --> 00:11:30.049 of his old self. He won the belt, but he kind 00:11:30.049 --> 00:11:32.250 of lost the aura and he lost the title in his 00:11:32.250 --> 00:11:34.070 very next fight. That was pretty much the end. 00:11:34.190 --> 00:11:36.570 He retired. He did. And this is where the story 00:11:36.570 --> 00:11:39.169 gets really messy. Because now you have a man 00:11:39.169 --> 00:11:42.389 with not much education, a lot of money, at least 00:11:42.389 --> 00:11:45.110 for a while, and this adrenaline addiction that... 00:11:45.309 --> 00:11:47.529 Normal life just can't satisfy. His civilian 00:11:47.529 --> 00:11:50.769 life problem. Yeah. He tried broadcasting for 00:11:50.769 --> 00:11:53.129 a bit, and he was okay at it. But the demons 00:11:53.129 --> 00:11:56.029 were loud. He moved to Venezuela, and the reports 00:11:56.029 --> 00:11:59.389 from that time are just dark. Yeah. Drugs, legal 00:11:59.389 --> 00:12:02.649 troubles. He ended up spending months in a Venezuelan 00:12:02.649 --> 00:12:05.190 jail. It's the cliche we just hate to see. The 00:12:05.190 --> 00:12:07.149 champion who can conquer the world but can't 00:12:07.149 --> 00:12:10.350 conquer himself. He hit rock bottom. But, to 00:12:10.350 --> 00:12:12.519 his credit, he sought help. Went to rehab in 00:12:12.519 --> 00:12:15.379 Colombia. Got clean. He came back to Puerto Rico 00:12:15.379 --> 00:12:17.159 in the late 90s. Became a born -again Christian. 00:12:17.440 --> 00:12:19.059 It really looked like he'd found some peace. 00:12:19.340 --> 00:12:22.860 But then, 2022 happened. I need you to walk me 00:12:22.860 --> 00:12:24.379 through this, because when I first read about 00:12:24.379 --> 00:12:26.419 it, I thought it had to be a tabloid rumor. This 00:12:26.419 --> 00:12:29.000 was real. Well, it was very real. March 2022. 00:12:30.000 --> 00:12:33.100 Gomez is in his mid -60s. And reports start coming 00:12:33.100 --> 00:12:35.879 out that he's missing. Turns out, he was allegedly 00:12:35.879 --> 00:12:38.700 being held hostage in his own home. Hospage? 00:12:38.779 --> 00:12:41.759 By who? By his partner at the time. a woman named 00:12:41.759 --> 00:12:44.960 Diana Sevilla Villalobos. The allegations were 00:12:44.960 --> 00:12:47.500 that she had completely isolated him, cut him 00:12:47.500 --> 00:12:49.919 off from his family, and was controlling him 00:12:49.919 --> 00:12:52.779 in a state of just utter squalor. That is horrifying. 00:12:52.860 --> 00:12:55.379 The man who stood up to Carlos Zarate was trapped 00:12:55.379 --> 00:12:57.360 in his own house. How did he get out? This is 00:12:57.360 --> 00:12:59.860 the part that's like a movie. His estranged wife, 00:13:00.120 --> 00:13:02.700 Carolina Gamboa, his son, and his friend Victor 00:13:02.700 --> 00:13:04.700 Callejas, who's a former world champion himself, 00:13:05.080 --> 00:13:07.679 they literally staged a rescue. The wife and 00:13:07.679 --> 00:13:10.100 his boxing buddy kicked the door down. Essentially. 00:13:10.559 --> 00:13:12.559 They went in, confronted the woman, and just 00:13:12.559 --> 00:13:14.519 pulled him out of there. The photos from that 00:13:14.519 --> 00:13:17.080 day are heartbreaking. He's disheveled, confused. 00:13:17.519 --> 00:13:19.379 They took him straight to a psychiatric hospital. 00:13:19.519 --> 00:13:21.940 That is just a wild, tragic twist. Is he okay 00:13:21.940 --> 00:13:24.539 now? He is. The latest reports say he recovered. 00:13:24.679 --> 00:13:26.559 He's back with his wife, Carolina, and he's safe. 00:13:26.820 --> 00:13:30.299 But it's just such a stark reminder of how vulnerable 00:13:30.299 --> 00:13:32.799 these guys can become. It really changes how 00:13:32.799 --> 00:13:35.039 you look at the bazooka nickname. Inside the 00:13:35.039 --> 00:13:37.679 ring, he was the weapon. Outside the ring, he 00:13:37.679 --> 00:13:39.779 was just a man. And that's the duality of his 00:13:39.779 --> 00:13:42.879 legacy. Puerto Rico reveres him. There's Wilfredo 00:13:42.879 --> 00:13:45.799 Gomez boxing gym, the sporting complex. He's 00:13:45.799 --> 00:13:48.080 a god in San Juan. But when you look closer, 00:13:48.220 --> 00:13:51.539 you see all the scars. So when we step back and 00:13:51.539 --> 00:13:53.799 look at the whole picture, from the kids selling 00:13:53.799 --> 00:13:57.139 candy to the 17 straight knockouts, the jail 00:13:57.139 --> 00:14:00.600 cell, the rescue, what's the takeaway? Why does 00:14:00.600 --> 00:14:02.539 Wilfredo Gomez still matter? I think he matters 00:14:02.539 --> 00:14:05.299 because he represents the... absolute limit of 00:14:05.299 --> 00:14:08.340 offensive boxing that record 17 consecutive title 00:14:08.340 --> 00:14:11.059 defenses by knockout that's his monument it is 00:14:11.059 --> 00:14:13.159 a statistical anomaly that i truly believe will 00:14:13.159 --> 00:14:15.340 never be broken the sport has changed too much 00:14:15.340 --> 00:14:18.679 risk management has taken over gomez fought with 00:14:18.679 --> 00:14:20.600 a reckless beautiful violence that we just don't 00:14:20.600 --> 00:14:23.460 see anymore he's a relic of a harder era He is. 00:14:23.500 --> 00:14:25.600 He reminds us that greatness, that kind of greatness 00:14:25.600 --> 00:14:28.559 anyway, it requires a kind of madness. You don't 00:14:28.559 --> 00:14:31.480 get to 32 straight knockouts by being a balanced, 00:14:31.639 --> 00:14:34.360 well -adjusted person. You do it by having a 00:14:34.360 --> 00:14:37.159 fire that burns everything around it, including 00:14:37.159 --> 00:14:40.019 eventually yourself. That is the heavy price. 00:14:40.200 --> 00:14:42.259 You know, we watch these fights. We cheer for 00:14:42.259 --> 00:14:44.120 the knockout. We want to see the bazooka fire. 00:14:44.399 --> 00:14:47.059 But we rarely stick around to see what happens 00:14:47.059 --> 00:14:49.940 to the soldier after the war is over. Well said. 00:14:50.470 --> 00:14:52.750 Wilfredo Gomez is a living testament to both 00:14:52.750 --> 00:14:55.370 the glory and the cost of the fight game. Thanks 00:14:55.370 --> 00:14:57.629 for taking this deep dive with us. It is a story 00:14:57.629 --> 00:14:59.070 that definitely packs a punch.