By: Sean Crose
The 5-0 junior middleweight Yoelvis Gomez battled the 30-5 Jorge Cota in a scheduled 10 round affair on Saturday as part of the televised undercard of Showtime’s Benavidez-Lemieux match. Gomez had last fought on Christmas night, 2021, when he stopped Clay Collard in the first round. Cota’s most recent fight had seen him getting stopped in the fourth round by Sebastian Fondura back in May of last year.
Gomez began unloading right off the bat in the first. Gomez continued to go for broke in the second, but he appeared too eager to try to score a quick stoppage. A thunderous shot in the third rattled Cota, who was then tossed to the mat. Cota got up and tried merely to survive the round, which he did. Cota then accidentally tagged the referee at the bell. Cota went on to have a better fourth. He then went on to have a good fifth.
The sixth was a strange affair, as it seemed to dawn on Gomez that he actually might not score a stoppage. Gomez wobbled his man early in the seventh, but Cota continued to remain on his feet. In fact, he remained competitive. Gomez continued to chop away at Cota in the eighth. Cota was game in the ninth, but he didn’t have enough to pull out a win. Gomez rocked Cota once again in the tenth. And once again, Cota kept from landing on the mat…but it was clear the fight belonged to Gomez.
The judges agreed, rewarding Gomez with a unanimous decision win.