With the Manny Pacquiao/Miguel Cotto fight looming on the horizon, all the attention has understandably been on those two fighters. Talk has been that this fight will be fight of the year, some say it will go down as fight of the decade. The accolades have already blanketed this contest, which can frequently be a recipe for disaster.

But one of the other fights on the card is between the popular Contender alumni Alfonso Gomez (20-4-2, 10 KOs) and Jesus Soto Karass (24-23-3, 16 KO’s). Back in 2008 Alfonso had a fight against Cotto, a fight that he lost in round five. I had a chance to speak with Gomez recently and the first thing I wanted to know was the importance of his upcoming fight with Karass.

“I consider this my most important fight,” he told me. “When I lost to Cotto I lost against the Champ, but if I lose to Karass it would send me back to almost the prehistoric age,” he laughed.

His last loss before the one against Cotto came back in 2004, when he lost in a unanimous decision to Peter Manfredo, Jr. during The Contender tournament.

This will be Gomez’s third fight this year and he is excited about it, and the importance it has to him. “I’m sure that beating Karass would put me in line to challenge a Champion in 2010,” he said, which contradicts his earlier comment about the prehistoric age. But that remark was a joke – getting a big fight next year is not.

Gomez has been training in Oxnard, California, and was happy about his great camp with Robert Garcia, et al, and how his training was going. But there is one thing that has him the most thrilled, and that is the birth of his daughter, Heidi Luna.

“After I had my baby girl I feel more motivated and mature. I’m taking things more seriously now.” He also told me how great it was to be a father, and how he now is able to concentrate and focus better on his job.

When I asked him if he had any predictions on the Pacquiao/Cotto fight, he told me, “I think Pacquiao is going to win – I hope Pacquiao wins.”



Good luck to Alfonso on Saturday night!



Be safe and God Bless,

Viva La Raza,

Barb.