LEO GAMEZ (105, 108, 112 & 115-lb champ)

[Autobarn]

no, let's not get into, is he a worthy hall of famer?

certainly a worthy career. the tiny guys don't move up in weight well but this guy won titles at straw-, light fly-, fly- & super flyweight.

he flew the flag for Venezuela, winning & losing titles in korea, japan & Thailand. he also defended titles successfully in America, Puerto rico & panama as well as his home country. he did this over a 13-year period.

not the most consistent of careers, and with him fighting all over the place, it's unlikely us posters have a complete picture of his career. so, what fights do we all remember, what were his best performances? his worst? was he in any absolute wars that ppl should try & seek out?

[Autobarn]

I had a look on youtube at his fight with pichit chor siriwat in Thailand. this was very exciting. gamez was sent skidding and dropped with a straight left, early on. got trapped on the ropes at one point by a big flurry, looked ready to go. ended up catching the home fighter, for a 6th round stoppage. really exciting fight for the WBA light flyweight title.

the 10th round TKO loss to celes kobayashi is even more exciting. this fight, for the WBA super flyweight title, is filled with furious exchanges. gamez takes on a considerably bigger southpaw & loses his last world title, but puts up a great fight, trading with the bigger, home fighter despite being outreached and overpowered away from home.

I've seen the rematch with hall of famer myung woo yuh. the first fight had been a controversial, split verdict in favour of yuh. the rematch, also in south korea, saw yuh cut the ring down, use fast hands and angles to grab control a tough contest. gamez was crafty but seemed to rely on single shots and couldn't match his aggressive opponent's combinations & lateral movement. no shame in losing to yuh, though.

[King Carlos]

As far as "four weight titlists" go he's kind of a joke. Solid fighter, though. Lots of heart. The Siriwat fight was a hell of a comeback. Siriwat really impressed prior to being KO'd. He was outclassing Gamez thoroughly. But Gamez stayed in there, kept swinging, and finally landed the punch he was looking for. Awesome fight.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

I'm confused as to whether or not you want to know if he's a HOF fighter? If you do, I'd say definitely not. In the modern era titles are meaningless to induction. He was a good fighter and put forth some solid efforts at Bantamweight too.

[Autobarn]

I want a discussion about his career, rather than the usual meaningless "is he HOF worthy"; I want to find out more about his career, his fights, his wars, which fights to track down, & also the fights where he may have been robbed away from home.

I wouldn't say he's a joke of a 4 weight champ because no one else did it below, say, featherweight apart from pacquiao. winning and losing titles repeatedly over a 13 yr career between 4 weights is an achievement. he was a TINY guy and was dwarfed by some of these weight drainers, & if someone like ivan calderon had done it I'm sure the superlatives would be heaped. I've long believed fighters don't get credit for winning in korea, Thailand & japan (where in fact some of the best, fastest paced action happens).

in his persistence and ability to return from setbacks, his career, on paper, resembles someone like bigger little guys wilfredo Vasquez or Daniel Zaragoza (though gamez actually did get to defend his title in his home country, unlike zaragoza). like Daniel Zaragoza with the WBC, he only fought for WBA titles (the WBA was located for a time in Venezuela, gamez's country). bias in the rankings, of course, BUT like Zaragoza he'd prove himself worthy of the ranking by returning from setbacks with strong performances.

I've not even seen gamez in his prime. what was his finest performance where it all came together perfectly? the fights I've seen he's a cute, crafty boxer that likes to throw one shot at a time.

[Autobarn]

As far as "four weight titlists" go he's kind of a joke. Solid fighter, though. Lots of heart. The Siriwat fight was a hell of a comeback. Siriwat really impressed prior to being KO'd. He was outclassing Gamez thoroughly. But Gamez stayed in there, kept swinging, and finally landed the punch he was looking for. Awesome fight.

absolutely, I was really pleased tracking this down.

the celes kobayashi fight is another really good one - there's less one punch drama but more sustained punching.

[Autobarn]

gamez seems a true warrior. here's a report of his defeat to sornpichai krantngdaenggym, from cyberboxingzone:

(joe koizumi)

SORNPICHAI WINS WBA FLYWEIGHT TITLE BY DROPPING LEO GAMEZ THRICE EN ROUTE TO 8TH ROUND KO

September 3, 1999
MUKDAHAN, THAILAND-It's a give-and-take extravaganza. Unbeaten Thai lefty SORNPICHAI KRATINGDAENGGYM, 112, finally seized the WBA flyweight throne, as he dropped the defending champ LEO GAMEZ, 112, Venezuela, in the third and 4th rounds, but ran out of gas to be a human dummy of the champ, but exploded a devastating left and knocked him out at 2:52 of the 8th session.

The Venezuelan veteran Gamez, standing just 5'1", started well with good jabs, but Sornpichai, 11 years his junior at 25, landed a wicked southpaw left hook to the belly to have him backpedalling. Gamez, in the second, caught the much taller lefty with a solid right and had him reeling to the ropes.

Sornpichai, PABA super-fly champ, missed plenty of punches in the third, but Gamez failed to avert one of his opponent's big shots and hit the deck for the mandatory 8 count. The Thailander went all out to finish the champ then and there, but he threw too roundhouse blows to catch the crafty champ who made him miss his follow-up rallies.

The 4th saw them exchange punches toe-to-toe in the center of the ring. It's Gamez that overwhelmed him with more accurate and effective shots and had him at bay. While on the defensive, Sornpichai threw a single powerful left that sent Gamez prone on the deck. Gamez surprisingly pulled himself up from such a bad knockdown, and Sornpichai failed to bring back home the bacon by finishing him due to his damage suffered by Gamez's previous attack prior to his visit to the canvas.

They mixed up furiously, throwing solid shots each other in the 5th and 6th. Gamez was more energetic in the 7th, but Sornpichai, fading obviously, landed a wicked left to almost stun him in the closing seconds of the round.

The 8th was truly "Round of the Year." Gamez was on the verge of finishing this see-saw affair, as he battered the groggy Thailander from all angles at will. Sornpichai appeared to have nothing to retaliate with only to cover him up with gloves. It seems that it was a matter of time. The rubbery-legged Sornpichai, however, landed a smashing stright left to the button of the champ. Down went Gamez. He was flat on the deck for a while, and barely raised himself up just after referee Rafael Ramos, US, finished tolling a fatal ten.

Sornpichai raised his unblemished ledger to 17-0, 14 KOs. Gamez, 36, had captured the WBA 112-pound belt by demolishing Argentine Hugo Soto in the third canto on the undercard of the Holyfield vs. Lewis heavyweight unification bout at Madison Square Garden in New York on March 13. But the little giant, Gamez, dropped to 32-7-1, 24 KOs.

Scored after the 7th-Hector Hernandez (Mexico) 68-65, Kazumasa Asao (Japan) 70-61, and Fineta (Panama) 69-62, all for Sornpichai.

seems there's plenty to discover in this guy's career.

[Datsue]

I'm confused as to whether or not you want to know if he's a HOF fighter? If you do, I'd say definitely not. In the modern era titles are meaningless to induction. He was a good fighter and put forth some solid efforts at Bantamweight too.

'Barn is determined to find someone as "into" Gamez as he is, bless him.

I certainly don't wish to clutter up his thread & we've come to loggerheads RE: his peccadilloes before, but he does make me yearn for a world in which such people are given more love.

[Autobarn]

it's the thrill of finding exciting fights and insights, especially lighter weights, especially fights in the east that were ignored in the west. these days we have the internet which overcomes many geographic barriers and we know about everything. not so before the '00s.

bores me to tears the threads I see, "should X be in the HOF?" once you determine if they belong in the hall, there's no more debate, which seems lacking on boxers of the past. the occasions you can discuss & debate, up pops another thread "who'd win X or Y?"; & before that can kick off you get more still, with names arbitrarily thrown together. interesting threads peter out within hours.

I've already tracked down 4 lost classics involving gamez- siriwat, kratingdaenggym (sornpichai), kobayashi, & takada 1st fight. I'm not trying to make grand claims for him, if that is spreading fear & confusion through the boxrec posters.

there seems to be a lot of surprises in this little guy's exciting, unpredictable career, which seems to feature less of the manipulation than many successful modern fighters.

reet then, who'd've won, gamez or Samson dutch boy gym - in thailand?

anyway, I didn't get my feast of insights - what shall I do datsue, hang up my touch screen gloves?

[SaadOffTheDeck]

I lived in a small town in MA when I was 10 & 11(1979 & 1980), on Saturday mornings there was an awesome Boxing show that would show fights that weren't on the big networks. A lot of Yoko Gushiken and Canto bouts, Cuevas, etc..

[Autobarn]

been watching some of gamez's wars, with siriwat, sornpichai & kobayashi. seems to fight talented southpaws, considerably bigger than himself, away from home, quite a bit.

vs siriwat he found the punch, after being dropped and battered in Thailand. vs sornpichai & kobayashi, he took his beating vs fresher, bigger, home fighters and fought his arse off until inevitable stoppage defeat. freakishly tough bloke, gamez, and dangerous all the way with the right hand.

thrilling fights, all, and I like gamez's "do or die" mentality in fights where anything can happen. if he'd stayed at strawweight and defended his title over a dozen times, it would not have been as compelling a career but he'd probably have received more recognition. titles in 4 weights, even small weights, over a dozen years, in some very intense fights shows him as quite a remarkable, and certainly compelling, little fighter.