“Contender” Star Plans to Turn Back Time!

What if you could turn back the hands of time?

Boxer Alfonso Gomez believes he just might be able to do that.

Gomez (23-4-2, 12 KOs) squared off against Calvin Green (21-6-1, 13 KOs) in the live boxing event promoted by Top Rank in association with II Feathers Promotions, airing on Fox Sports.

While at ringside at last Friday’s main event at the Morongo Casino, Resort and Spa in Cabazon, California, I watched Gomez make good on his attempt to turn back time. Immediately after his latest victory, he also told Fox Sports’ Rich Marotta that he feels like he is boxing’s “Benjamin Button.”

In the film “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” Brad Pitt stars as the title character, born an old man who regresses–and progresses–through the years until he becomes a newborn. Everything is backward for Button. But along the way, he experiences great adventures while adjusting to his unique situation.

In “The Curious Case of Alfonso Gomez,” his true tale begins with a hardscrabble youth in Guadajara, moving with his parents and two brothers to California while moving up the ranks, first as an amateur then as a pro, and now also as a husband and new father.

As a professional prizefighter, his first big break came when he was chosen for the inaugural cast of the hit TV show “The Contender.” Since then, Gomez has fought for both respect and title belts while taking on Miguel Cotto, Arturo Gatti, Jose Luis Castillo, Jesus Soto Karass, Peter Manfredo Jr., among many others.

At age 30, with just four blemishes on his record (losses to Cotto, Manfredo Jr., Jesse Feliciano and Ishe Smith), Alfonso was set to face the son of a legend, Julio Cesar Chavez last December. After suffering an elbow injury, their bout was scrapped while Gomez was on the mend.

Wanting to prove he’s still a contender after a world title, Alfonso stepped back on the canvas for the first time since March of last year.

Shaking off the inevitable ring rust, the WBC Continental Americas Welterweight Champ, did his part in turning back the clock while scoring a second round knockout that surprised many, but perhaps not surprising Team Gomez. Training under the tutelage of his father Alfonso Gomez Sr. and Maywood’s Mario Morales, the welterweight had a different game plan this time around.

While introduced in the ring, he had one intense game face on. Eyes narrowing and lasered in at the task at hand, his expression can only be described as seething as he anticipated the opening bell. Announced as Alfonso S. Gomez by ring emcee Lupe Contreras, the fighter traced the sign of an “S” for “Superman” on his chest.

And unfortunately for his opponent Calvin Green, the boxer out of Baytown, Texas, didn’t seem to have any Kryptonite in his gloves as Alfonso began his increasing assault.

Green, who was coming down in weight, was quickly overwhelmed by the fists of Gomez, who came out of the gate busy and blazing.

Throwing a lot of punches and fast combinations, watching Gomez made me think of a hockey game, “He shoots…He SCORES!”

The Southern California fighter became a sharpshooter in the ring as he dominated from the beginning of the bout scheduled for ten rounds.

Gomez needed only two stanzas to claim his 23rd victory–and an all-important KO on his ledger.

Connecting with body shots, this was a fierce and focused Gomez inside the ropes. Green was stunned by a barrage of punches that had him backed up in a corner. A big right hand from Gomez had the Texas fighter in trouble. After escaping from the corner and breaking free, but only for a second, Green found himself once again at the end of Gomez’s hooks and uppercuts. After Green was outgunned and on the receiving end of even more punishment, referee Tony Crebs stepped in to wave the bout off at 1:24 in the second frame.

When Lupe Contreras officially announced the KO win to the sold-out crowd, there was an unmistakable look of elation and pure satisfaction as Gomez relished his newest victory.

So is this a “new” Alfonso Gomez?

With this convincing victory, Gomez surprised many with this impressive win.

Catching up with the welterweight a few days after the knockout win, I wondered if he himself was shocked after scoring such a fast KO. Admittedly, Calvin Green is not a household name. But Gomez says it was a foe who everybody thought would go toe to toe against him in a competitive matchup.

“Did anything surprise you about scoring the second round KO?” I asked him.

“No surprises!” he told me. “They gave me Calvin Green because everyone (Top Rank, my manager, the reporters, critics, fans) thought that it was going to be a competitive fight. But I wanted to prove that I’m at a different level–and I did.”

While his father and brother Robb were in his corner up in the ring, I saw younger brother Zeuz, nephew Angel and mom Liliana all cheering and high-fiving the other Gomez relatives, friends and fans in the crowd. While the standing-room only audience in Morongo’s Grand Ballroom also cheered loudly for the SoCal fighter and rapper, who proudly showcased Hy3rid (his band with brothers Robb and Zeuz) on the back of his dark blue satin trunks, Gomez remained confident and already thinking ahead.

While performing with Hy3rid, his onstage moniker is “Diablo Luna,” translated as “Devil Moon.” Inside the squared circle, a devilish Gomez showcased his new knockout skills in one wicked performance.

Now with his name back in the news, the Anaheim boxer promised to stay busy and continue to shake off any “ring rust” after his 14-month break in his career. This sizzling showdown in Palm Springs put Gomez back in the limelight–and he hopes back in the running to get a title shot against one of the big marquee names in boxing right now. Training out of both the Maywood Boxing Gym and the Azteca Boxing Club, Gomez intends to show that his KO win was no fluke.

While Marotta interviewed Gomez immediately after the KO win, I heard Alfonso once again call out some of the top stars in the game. Saying he’s comfortable at 147 and in search of another belt, Gomez said he wants Victor Ortiz (who recently moved up in weight), popular Mexican warrior Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and even that power punching international superstar named Manny Pacquiao.

“So you keep mentioning Canelo, Victor Ortiz, and Pacquiao as the guys you want next,” I further inquire. “Do you think you’ll eventually get a chance to face any of them?”

“Well, I mentioned Victor Ortiz because he holds the belt at my weight, but I have much respect for him–and I admire how he got it by shutting mouths. Canelo is riding the wave and I don’t blame him. I’d do the same,” Gomez assesses. “But for him to call out Marquez is insulting to the intelligence of those who know he just wants to feed off small fighters like he’s done with Jose Miguel Cotto and Matthew Hatton. And now he wants Juan Manuel Marquez.

“COME ON! Fight Gomez! Besides I’d like to show the world who truly is the “king” in Guadalajara. And Pacman is #1 on my idol list and #1 in my ‘hit list’ because he is the sh**!” Gomez laughs.

Saying that he’s trying to change his style–with successful results–Gomez said while in the ring that he somehow feels “stronger, younger and faster” at the age of 30.

Thus, the “Benjamin Button” reference.

Alfonso Gomez as a prizefighter who escapes “Father Time”?

Why not?

On the same weekend that a renewed Gomez scored a second-round KO, 46-year-old Bernard Hopkins beat Jean Pascal to become boxing’s oldest champion to ever claim a major championship belt.

Gomez, a fan of the “Benjamin Button” movie, also believes age is just a number–with the evidence being his Friday night performance.

I quizzed Alfonso, “How many times have you watched your fight replay now?

He laughs, “I’ve only seen the fight once!”

“And how many times have you watched ‘Benjamin Button’?”

“I’ve only seen that once also!” Gomez answers with a chuckle.

Perhaps a quote from the film can answer the newfound strength and wisdom that sums up Gomez’s newfound attitude, “While everyone else was agin’, I was gettin’ younger.”

All Photos by Ray Flores