Bout Means a Lot To Both Fighters

The young up-and-comer against a veteran hoping to turn back the clock: It’s a classic boxing matchup.

Tonight’s scheduled eight-round main event at the YDI Wool Warehouse fits that description like a fist in a glove.

Albuquerque welterweight Josh Torres, a 22-year-old with 10 professional fights, will challenge Aztec’s Joe Gomez, a 27-year-old who’s answered the bell 25 times.

With a victory, Torres (7-2-1, four knockouts) can solidify his relationship with the promoter of tonight’s card. Joe Chavez has said he hopes to have the young fighter on future shows and help bring him through the ranks.

That sounds good to Torres, who is 7-0-1 when fighting in New Mexico and 0-2 away from home.

“That would be great,” he says of Chavez’s potential stewardship, “because that’s one thing our state needs. … It’s good to have someone on our side like that, very exciting.”

For Gomez (18-6-1, five KOs), tonight’s bout is almost like starting over. He’s fighting as a welterweight (147 pounds, though he and Torres both weighed in Thursday at 148.6) for the first time in 4 1/2 years.

Gomez is 9-1-1 as a welterweight. At other weights, he’s 9-5 – including five losses in his last seven bouts.

“This fight means a lot,” Gomez says, “Because I’m coming down (in weight) to where I belong.”

Gomez made the decision to trim down after his most recent fight, a loss by fourth-round TKO to El Paso’s unbeaten Abie Han on June 16. Gomez weighed a career-high 159 3/4 pounds but found the extra weight did him no good.

“The fight with Abie really opened my eyes,” he says, “because I hit him with a couple of good shots and he just walked right through them.”

Torres also is coming off a loss, having dropped a six-rounder by unanimous decision to Raul Carrillo (10-1) on June 30 in the latter’s hometown of Longmont, Colo.

But Torres believes he deserved a far better outcome.

“Usually, coming off a loss is a bad thing,” Torres says. “But in this case it’s working to my advantage because I feel great about my performance. I feel like I did a good job and I have no regrets.”

The bout is a classic matchup, as well, in that Torres is spotting Gomez 4 inches in height. Yet, neither fighter concedes the inside or the outside to the other.

“We’ll see what he gives us,” Torres says. “I feel like I’m a well-rounded fighter.”

Gomez says, “If we go to war, we go to war. If (Torres) wants to stay on the outside, that’s probably not a good choice. But it doesn’t really matter.”

This will be Torres’ second fight since the May 27 death of his trainer and mentor, five-time world champion Johnny Tapia. He continues to train with Chris Chavez at the Tapia Boxing Academy.

“We still train hard every day,” Torres says. “We still have that motivation, maybe even more now, to make sure his legacy lives on.”

BOXING
Young Torres To Face Veteran GomezBout Means a Lot To Both FightersTORRES: 7-0-1 when fighting in New MexicoBoxing, YDI Wool Warehouse: Josh Torres vs. Joe Gomez, Arturo Crespin vs. Nazareth Rojas, three other bouts. First bell: 7 p.m. Doors open: 6. Tickets: $30-$50. Call 505-261-1502.Fight card: D5

Today
— This article appeared on page D2 of the Albuquerque Journal