There have been many false starts in the career of Michael Gomez Jnr.
Time and time again throughout the course of his 10-year career the super featherweight has threatened to break through only to fall out of love with the sport and drift away.
Importantly, though, Gomez Jnr always came back.
Gomez Jnr has been consistently fighting at championship level for the past two years and on Saturday night, the Mancunian fights British and Commonwealth champion Reece Bellotti for the title he has spent years obsessing over; the title his father, Michael Snr, famously held.
The perseverance has paid off.
“Two fights ago, I boxed at Oldham Leisure Centre in a six-rounder,” Gomez Jnr, 21-1 (6 KOs), told BoxingScene.
“I was thinking in my head, ‘What am I doing here now? I’m back down here. I’ve won an English title fight [Gomez Jnr beat Levi Giles in March 2023] which wasn’t the best performance and broke both my hands and I’m having to come back.’
“Kevin [Maree, his manager] was like, ‘Stick with it, stick with it.’ He got me an English title defence in my last fight and I’ve shown that if I’m disciplined, dedicated and switched on I can do damage to people in this way.
“The British title to me, is a world title. If you offered me an IBF, WBC, whatever world title, or a British title, I’m taking the British title. That might sound stupid but, to me, it’s everything. I’ll have won all four domestic belts.”
Five years ago, it would have been difficult to find somebody willing to say that Gomez Jnr would make it to this point through sheer persistence and dedication. The 29-year-old is a naturally fit, talented fighter but readily admits that he has only recently started taking the sport seriously.
Gomez Jnr isn’t ignorant to the gossip that has circulated around him. These days he is also mature enough to accept that one or two of the rumours that he can reel off were true.
“I’ve had more trainers than JD Sports. No dedication. No discipline. Doesn’t care about boxing. Bad attitude. Doesn’t want to listen, doesn’t want to learn,” he said. “You ask Michael [Jennings, his trainer] now, I am one of the hardest learners in the gym. I listen to anyone.
“I’m pecking somebody’s ear all the time. I want to learn off everyone.”
Fighters are complicated characters and maybe, deep in Gomez Jnr’s subconscious, he spent the first half of his career creating a ready-made excuse for why he hadn’t fulfilled his potential.
He has got here in spite of himself and is now within touching distance of achieving his lifetime’s ambition. Gomez Jnr talks as if the weight of the world has been lifted from his shoulders.
“I love this game. Four or five years ago, I hated it. It knocked me sick because I was so scared of failing to get to this moment,” he said. “I didn’t think I’d ever get to this moment, I’ll be honest with you, and now I’m here. I’ve done it. I’ve got nothing else to lose. If I lose now, at least I lost at this level. I can live with that.
“I can live with failing at that level. I could not live with not knowing if I could do it to get here. Not only have I got here now, I’m literally only just doing my best now. I’m only just hitting my best prime right now so who knows what’s going to happen from here? I’m excited. I’m excited to go.”
Bellotti, 19-5 (14 KOs), is enjoying something of an Indian summer to an exciting career. Five years ago, the 33-year-old from Watford suffered three consecutive defeats and looked to have hit a dead end. Rather than giving in, he rededicated himself to the sport and has reeled off five straight victories, collecting Area, Commonwealth and British titles along the way.
This year he has beaten Liam Dillon and Levi Giles and looked, arguably, a better and more complete fighter than ever.
After defending his title against Kane Baker in July, Gomez Jnr decided he needed a change of tack if he was to fulfill his potential and joined up with rising trainer Michael Jennings.
The all-action 29-year-old is a confident character and has always claimed that he had the beating of Bellotti. Teaming up with Jennings has bolstered that self-belief even further and although he is extremely aware of the danger Bellotti poses, he is willing to go to extremes to win the titles this weekend.
“Listen, I make mistakes that they’re going to want to capitalise on and that they think they can capitalise on, but there’s just certain things that me and Mike have been working on.
“Everyone can see it. There’s certain things that he does wrong and if he does it wrong against me and I land with the shots that I need to land with, I’m going to turn his lights out.
“I’ve got 36 minutes to get what I want.
“I just know he’s going to make the mistakes I want him to make and I know I can make him make them early.
“The only chance he’s got is that he’s meant to be a big puncher and, in the eight-ounce gloves, if he’s a big puncher and he lands clean, who knows what’s going to happen? If he doesn’t knock me out I guarantee you that unless I leave on my back in an ambulance, he’s not beating me on Saturday night.
“I’m not willing to get beat on points. I won’t be able to live with myself on that Sunday morning if I did that. If I’m down going into the last round, I’m going to put my head down and I will just swing away. That’s how dramatic I’m willing to be.”
