Expert: Lian Shoemake - 7/7/2005

Question
what is your assessment on juan carlos gomez?, and his chances of challenging for a major heavyweight belt, and being succesful at winning one?
i've noticed a lot of guys have written him off as a no hoper because of his bad loss against diaz. but that appeared to be due to lack of motivation, a long lay off and not taking the fight serious.

i think this guy has a lot of ability, is one of the most gifted boxers in the world, he's aso southpaw which is rare in the heavyweight division. i belive a fully focused juan carlos gomez can give any heavyweight in the world problems. would you agree with this assessment?
regards.

Answer
Hi Paul,

Thanks for the question.

I guess I wouldn't call Gomez a no-hoper, as much as a "so what?" at this point.
I don't necessarily disagree with you that he has considerable skills, and a style that can help him frustrate larger opponents (see Chris Byrd), but in a desolate, wide-open heavyweight division like this, anyone with such skills who can't muster the motivation to defeat a mediocre fighter like Diaz is probably not goin to make much of an impact.
All the points you made about Gomez in that fight may be true: lacked notivation, long layoff and not serious.

Those are not the attributes of a champion, and I don't see that the loss has lit a fire in him to refocus and push toward a title run.

I think Gomez has skills, but due to all the factors you mentioned and the promotional problems that stalled his career at one point, he may eventually win an award for wasted talent.

Probably not the answer you wanted to hear, but I'll always tell you my honest opinion! And I could be wrong :)

Thanks again for writing, Paul.

Regards,

Lian