Manuel \”Shotgun\” Gomez: Majority Draw; Title Hopes Maybe Derailed!

What should have been an easy night for Manuel “Shotgun” Gomez, ended up being a majority draw against late replacement Jose Soto-Karrass. Gomez, looking out of shape, came into the bout extremely overconfident. After a brisk opening three rounds, Gomez looked like he was running out of gas. Soto-Karrass was very consistent with combinations and showed amazing toughness in exchanging some heavy leather with the hard punching Gomez. Jose was never seriously hurt, but was stunned on several occasions. Gomez never really seemed to get into the contest as he was trying to counter-punch, which is not his style. This was a fight in which Gomez should have shown his world class caliber, but he just never seemed focused. Soto-Karrass, although very tough and game, was in no condition to go ten rounds, as he came in weighing 156-pounds for a 151-pound fight. Gomez would say in the post-fight interview that he gave Jose a six pound advantage because Soto-Karrass took the fight on short notice. This ended up being a big mistake, as Manuel was not able to put his opponent down for the count. Who knows what this majority draw will do for his career, but Gomez really needed to make a statement, which he did not.