Michael Gomez (born Michael Armstrong; 21 June 1977) is a former professional boxer who competed from 1995 to 2009. He was born to an Irish Traveller family in Longford, Ireland, spending his early years in Dublin before moving to London and later Manchester, England, with his family at the age of nine. In boxing he was affectionately known as "The Predator", "The Irish Mexican" and "The Mancunian Mexican".
Despite finishing his career fighting in the lightweight division, Gomez is more notable for his fights at featherweight and super-featherweight. During his career he amassed a number of regional championships, most significantly the British super-featherweight title twice, from 1999 to 2004. He also held the WBU super featherweight title from 2004 to 2005.
Gomez, who has been compared to Johnny Tapia, has lived a turbulent life and was often involved in controversial fights. In Gomez's initial matches he suffered a number of losses to journeyman opposition but then went on a run of victories which stretched for almost four years. Of his 17 fights between February 2001 and March 2008, 16 ended in knockouts. Concerns arose about his drinking and failure to adhere to his diet and training regimes after a loss to László Bognár in 2001. Gomez appeared to be "back on track" in 2003, with his high-profile fight against Edinburgh-based fighter Alex Arthur for the British and WBA Inter-Continental super-featherweight titles, which Gomez won by knocking out Arthur in the fifth round.
In 2006, Gomez suffered a controversial loss to Peter McDonagh when, in the middle of a round, he dropped his guard and walked out of the ring, later saying he had retired from boxing. He returned to the ring after a 15-month interval. On 21 June 2008, Gomez lost what was seen as possibly his last bout: a last chance saloon opportunity to resurrect his career against rising star and Olympic silver medallist Amir Khan. Although scoring a surprise knockdown against Khan early on, the fight ended with Gomez being stopped in five rounds.
Gomez took the surname Gomez after his childhood hero Wilfredo Gómez.
Michael Armstrong was born into an Irish traveller family in Longford, Ireland. His mother went into labour with him while driving, so his partially sighted father took over the wheel but crashed the car into a lamp post on the way to the hospital; Michael was delivered in the back seat. The Armstrong family moved to Ballymun, Dublin, and, when Michael was age nine, to Manchester, England.
Following the family's move to England, Armstrong's father's eyesight failed further due to retinitis pigmentosa. By that time, there were ten children in the Armstrong family. After his younger sister, Louise, died from sudden infant death syndrome, his mother left the family to live with another woman. Armstrong subsequently spent much of his youth in various children's homes, and was a serial truant from school. His mother had taught him to shoplift as a child, and he was involved in petty crime throughout his youth in Manchester. At nine years old, he began training at Brian Hughes' Collyhurst and Moston Boys' Club. He also played football for a local North Manchester team until the club received so many fines for Armstrong's fighting on the pitch that they were unable to pay them. At this point, he stopped playing football to concentrate on his training in the ring. During his time in the children's home Armstrong met Alison, who has remained his companion (and later his wife) throughout his professional career; they were parents by the time Armstrong was 17.
Armstrong boxed as an amateur before turning professional in June 1995. He chose the professional surname "Gomez" when the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBoC) required him to select another name at the time of his registration as a professional; there was another boxer in the same weight division using the name "Michael Armstrong". He chose his ring name in honour of Puerto Rican boxer Wilfredo Gómez, whose videotaped fights Armstrong had studied intently as a youth. The name, combined with Gomez's "brawling style", earned him the nickname of "the Irish Mexican". He developed a ring persona based on this nickname, which has remained popular with fans throughout his career. His ring entrance music is that of a Mexican Mariachi band, a reference to his Hispanic-sounding chosen name, and many of his supporters wear sombreros to his fights and wave Irish flags. Gomez also wears long Mexican-style boxing shorts in the colours of the flag of Ireland and often has the shape of a shamrock shaved into the hair on the back of his head.
In his debut fight at the G-Mex Leisure Centre, Manchester, England, Gomez beat previously undefeated Danny Ruegg on the undercard of a bill that included Robin Reid and Michael Brodie. Despite this initial win, Gomez's early career was littered with losses to journeyman fighters such as Greg Upton and Chris Williams.
In 1996, Gomez was charged with murder after a gang fight outside a nightclub in Manchester. Gomez had hit one of his attackers, Sam Parle, who died after his head hit the pavement as a result of the blow. The charge was later reduced to manslaughter and Gomez was cleared after it was ruled that he had acted in self-defence.
After this shaky beginning in the professional ranks, Gomez had a run of victories from September 1997 to February 1999. During this period Gomez won seven straight fights before challenging for his first title belt, the vacant British Central Area featherweight title against Chris Jickells on 27 February 1999 in Oldham. Gomez won the title with a fifth-round knockout. He followed his first title win by adding another championship, the IBF Inter-Continental featherweight title, with a second-round knockout over Nigel Leake.
Later that year, Gomez relinquished his championship belts in a bid to move up to the super featherweight division. His first fight in the division, in September 1999, was for the vacant British super featherweight title, against the experienced and much heralded Liverpudlian fighter Gary Thornhill. Gomez defeated Thornhill with a second-round knockout. In November 1999, Gomez faced off against Mexican Jose Manjarrez for the WBO Inter-Continental super featherweight title, walking away with the title based on the judges' scores after the full twelve rounds. In 1999, Gomez won four title belts, was undefeated during the year and was also named "Young Boxer of the Year" by the British Boxing Writers' Club. He continued his winning form into 2000 with another run of six wins, and successfully defended his British super featherweight title against Dean Pithie, Carl Greaves and Ian McLeod.
Gomez's first fight in 2001 was on 10 February against Hungarian boxer Laszlo Bognar for the WBO Inter-Continental super featherweight title, in Widnes, Cheshire. Gomez had Bognar on the canvas in the fifth round, but Bognar recovered from this knockdown and used his southpaw jab to keep Gomez from closing in. In the ninth round referee Dave Paris stopped the fight following a double left from Bognar, which had Gomez stricken against the ropes. Gomez felt the fight had been stopped prematurely and that he should have been allowed to continue. Gomez later stated that he was suffering from flu and should not have taken the fight. The Daily Telegraph reported after the match that the pre-fight weigh-in and medical examination were not carried out in accordance with BBBC regulations: the volunteer inspector left before Bognar and Gomez had weighed in, and the medical examiner had not detected that Gomez was ill.
Gomez sought a rematch against Bognar, and five months later in July 2001 the pair met again, this time in Manchester, resulting in a victory for Gomez. The fight started badly for Gomez when he suffered a flash knockdown in the first round and was down again in the second. Gomez came back to knock Bognar down near the end of the second round. Gomez came out firing at the start of the third round and finished the fight with a fourth and final knockdown to avenge his earlier defeat. He followed up his victory over Bognar with a second-round knockout of Scottish fighter Craig Docherty for another British super featherweight title win.