Harold Gomes

Last updated
Harold Gomes
Born (1933-08-22) August 22, 1933 (age 91)
Providence, Rhode Island,
United States
Statistics
Weight(s) Super featherweight
Featherweight
Height5 ft 5 in (165 cm)
Stance Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights60
Wins50
Wins by KO24
Losses10
Draws0

Harold Gomes (born August 22, 1933) is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1951 and 1963. The highlight of Gomes's career came in 1959 when he won the world super featherweight title against Paul Jorgensen.

Contents

Professional career

Gomes fought as a professional for the first time in September 1951 at the age of 18. His debut was against Billy St Pierre at the Rhode Island Auditorium in his hometown, the venue for his first thirteen professional fights. Billy St Pierre was knocked out in the second round, giving Gomes his first professional victory. Gomes remained undefeated until January 1954, when he lost a ten-round decision to Tommy Tibbs, a man whom Gomes had beaten twice in 1952 and once in 1953. In March 1954 Gomes claimed the first title of his career when he beat Johnny O'Brien, via a twelve-round unanimous decision, for the USA New England featherweight title at the Boston Garden. Gomes suffered two knockout defeats in the second half of 1954, both to Tibbs in Boston. Following his second knockout loss to Tibbs, Gomes won twelve fights in a row, including a rematch against O'Brien for the New England title. His run of victories was ended in August 1957 when he lost a unanimous ten-round decision to Isidro Martinez at the Boston Arena. [1]

After eight successive victories following his loss to Martinez, Gomes fought for the vacant world super featherweight title against Jorgensen, a man he had defeated earlier in the year, in July 1959. The fight lasted the fifteen round distance, with Gomes knocked down four times and Jorgensen repeatedly cautioned for low blows. [2] The scorecards of the judges were all in favour of Gomes, thus making him the new world champion. Following his world title victory, Gomes was named The Ring 's Fighter of the Month. [3]

Gomes's world title reign was ended in his first defense, when he lost to the Filipino challenger Flash Elorde in March 1960. Gomes, who was the betting favourite, was fighting outside the United States for the first time, as the contest was held at the Araneta Coliseum (now SMART Araneta Coliseum) in Quezon City. The sellout crowd of 26,000 watched Elorde knock Gomes down five times en route to a seventh-round knockout victory. [4] A rematch took place in August at the Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. Elorde claimed the victory after one minute and twenty seconds of the opening round. Elorde scored a knockdown with a left hand to the face, and although Gomes was able to rise to his feet at the count of seven, he was knocked out with a combination soon after. [5]

Gomes did not participate in a world title fight again in his career, which contained eight further fights. After four successive wins, he lost a split decision to Johnny Bizzarro before being knocked out in his final three professional fights, including his final fight, a one-round knockout defeat to Dave Coventry in October 1963, in London. [1]

Championships and accomplishments

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References

  1. 1 2 "boxer: Harold Gomes". Boxrec. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
  2. ↑ "Gomes Takes Title From Jorgensen". Sarasota Journal . 21 July 1959. Retrieved 2 August 2010– via Google News.
  3. ↑ "Harold Gomes Named 'Fighter Of Month'". Kentucky New Era . 25 July 1959. Retrieved 2 August 2010– via Google News.
  4. ↑ "Elorde Stops Gomes For Lightweight Title". The Deseret News . 16 March 1960. Retrieved 2 August 2010– via Google News.
  5. ↑ "Elorde Puts Away Gomes In The 1st". The Times-News. 19 August 1960. Retrieved 2 August 2010– via Google News.
  6. ↑ "Honorees". Cauliflower Alley Club . Archived from the original on July 6, 2022. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
Achievements
Vacant
Title last held by
Sandy Saddler 		World Super Featherweight Champion
July 20, 1959 – March 16, 1960		Succeeded by
Super featherweight status
Preceded by
Sandy Saddler
 Oldest living world champion
September 18, 2001 – present		Incumbent
Status (all weights)
Preceded by
Robert Cohen
Bantam
 Oldest living world champion
March 2, 2022 – present		Incumbent


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