Gómez was born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, but his parents subsequently moved to the city of Napa, California where he graduated in 1998 from Napa High and (later) Tustin, California, partly so as to enable Alfonso to go to college and continue boxing. He had started boxing at age 10, and had an amateur record of 80 wins and 10 losses. He was managed along the way by his father, an ex-boxer himself. He has two brothers.
He fought and lost to Ishe Smith in 2001 and he would later become the roommate of Smith on reality TV show The Contender. On the show, he was placed on the West Coast team (as was Ishe) and challenged the high-ranked Peter Manfredo in the first fight. He beat the then undefeated Rhode Islander in a shock fight, although that wasn’t the end of Peter.
In the quarterfinals, he beat Ahmed Khaddour (who had been brought back in to replace Juan de la Rosa). The Semi Final round saw him up against Manfredo (who had been brought back in to replace Jeff Fraza) again, a fight Manfredo was very keen on. Gómez lost this matchup. He may take some consolation from having beaten Brinkley in the 3rd Place Fight, which guaranteed him a nice packet of prize money—and the whole experience catapulted him to a world ranking of 21 out of 861. However, he has never fought outside of four southwestern states: Nevada, Colorado, Texas, California.
Since the end of the Contender series, Gómez has been undefeated through six fights (including one on The Contender Challenge: UK vs. USA, as noted below). He defeated Jesse Brinkley, also of Contender fame, by unanimous decision on May 24, 2005. He fought Luciano Perez on October 15, 2005 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and won by TKO. He also fought Jesse Feliciano to a draw on May 5, 2006 at the Aladdin Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Gómez was a part of the Contender Challenge: UK vs USA, where he was pitted against Martin Concepcion on March 30, 2007. Alfonso won due to TKO from an uppercut, late in the 7th round.
Most recently, Gómez defeated Arturo Gatti on July 14, 2007 via 7th round TKO,[1] then just three months later he outpointed Ben Tackie in a unanimous decision in Carson, California on October 16, 2007.
Gómez has always expressed a desire to become World Champion. He is still managed and coached by his father, Alfonso Gómez, Sr.
Gómez lost his last fight against Miguel Cotto via 5th round TKO on April 12, 2008 after the ring-side doctor declared him unable to continue after receiving several blows from Cotto.[2]
On May 1, 2009 Alfonso Gomez (19-4-2, 9 KOs) stopped Juan Buendia (14-3-1, 8 KOs) with a perfect left hook to the liver in the 8th round, at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada. Putting himself in Position for a possible matchup with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
On August 29, 2009, Gomez scored a first round stoppage of Raul Munoz in Hawaii, setting up a match against Jesus Soto-Karass.
On November 14, 2009, Gomez fought against the favored Jesus Soto-Karass on the Pacquaio-Cotto undercard “Firepower” at the MGM Grand. In a reasonably competitive fight, Gomez outboxed Soto-Karass for the first four rounds of the affair, during which Soto-Karass committed a large multitude of low blow fouls upon Gomez that ultimately cost him two points, and headbutted Gomez badly by accident in the 3rd round, opening a large cut around Gomez’s right eye. The cut bled profusely throughout until it necessitated a doctor stoppage in the sixth round of the fight, sending the fight to a Technical decision, which Gomez won 58-54, 57-55(x2). Gomez also attained the vacant WBC Continental Americas Welterweight title as a result of this victory.
Gomez will be fighting Jose Luis Castillo on the Pacquaio-Clottey undercard on March 13, 2010, at the Cowboys Stadium in Texas.
