FIGHTLINE
GOMEZ TKO 5 ZARATE OCT. 28, 1978
ZARAGOZA TKO 10 ZARATE FEB. 29, 1988
T
SANTA CRUZ KO 3 TERRAZAS AUG. 24, 2013
ZARAGOZA SD 12 MCCULLOUGH JAN. 11, 1997
TERRAZAS SD 8 RUIZ DEC. 15, 2012
m
RUIZ TKO 6 MCCULLOUGH JUNE 20, 2008
i
FRAMPTON MD 12 SANTA CRUZ JULY 30, 2016
INOUE UD 12 DONAIRE NOV. 7, 2019
FRAMPTON UD 12 DONAIRE APRIL 21, 2018
F ights only last a matter of minutes, but fighters are connected to each other by chains that extend for decades – even centuries – into the past. Their bond is a lineage built face-to-face – a young prospect struggles with the skills of an aging veteran whose nose was once broken by a fighter now enshrined in the International Boxing Hall of Fame. In that way, muscle memory carries knowledge and boxers face a piece of everyone their opponent has fought, everyone those people fought, and so on. This month we’re focusing on the 122-pound division, popularized by Puerto Rican great Wilfredo Gomez, who won the WBC belt in 1977 and defended it a division-record 17 times against all comers – winning all by stoppage. Like all of the stars of the 1970s and 1980s, Gomez was a fighting champion, often defending his title four times in a calendar year. We thought it would be fun to link “Bazooka” to Naoya Inoue, the current undisputed champion of the 122-pound division, who plans to defend his belts four times this year. There are multiple paths linking the power-punching technicians whose primes are separated by almost 50 years, but we’ve selected the eight-boxer Fightline below. There’s at least one way to get there faster. Can you find it? If so, or if you have another Fightline you’d like to submit, send it to comeoutwriting@gmail.com.
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