Juan Carlos Gomez vs. Grigory Drozd

[Vlad]

12 rounds.

[EdwardRevolver1993]

Gomez UD.

[giacomino]

Same

[margaret thatcher]

how good was gomez?

he gets picked to beat most top cws from other eras, but man did he do a lotta can crushing. never really got to see him vs that level of opposition.

[giacomino]

My answer was based on the fight happening in Germany in an era when home belt-holders (in this case Gomez) didn’t lose decisions. It would be a very competitive fight, probably Gomez’ most competitive since he had to work to win the title in Germany vs Dominguez, who was a decent belt-holder but six inches shorter than Gomez. Drozd fought better opposition at CW than Gomez and it’s possible he would have gotten to him at some point

[EdwardRevolver1993]

My answer was based on the fight happening in Germany in an era when home belt-holders (in this case Gomez) didn’t lose decisions. It would be a very competitive fight, probably Gomez’ most competitive since he had to work to win the title in Germany vs Dominguez, who was a decent belt-holder but six inches shorter than Gomez. Drozd fought better opposition at CW than Gomez and it’s possible he would have gotten to him at some point

Drozd had a thin resume as well. But yes, he has that signature win over Wlodarczyk. However, I think by that time Wlodarczyk fought mostly in an Arthur Abraham style - he didn't mind giving rounds away and was looking to land that one accurate shot to end matters. He was 1.5 rounds away from losing to Danny Green and I think should've lost his 1st fight against Palacios.

Drozd team built a perfect strategy against this style and I give them full credit. They shut him out on points. I just think that this version of Wlodarczyk wasn't exactly the one who fought hard twice against prime Steve Cunningham.

P.S. Drozd also managed to stop Masternak in a good fight, which was another fine win. And also started Masternak's losing streak against notable foes.

P.P.S. I think, that an in-shape Gomez was just a better boxer than Drozd.

A fun fact - Drozd's last trainer was a Cuban Pedro Diaz. He did help Drozd to improve. Before starting to work with Diaz, Drozd wasn't all that impressive.