Yoelvis Gomez gets the sense that he needs to reintroduce himself to boxing fans Saturday night.
The Cuban southpaw started to build some momentum by blowing out Clay Collard in the first round and easily outpointing Jorge Cota in back-to-back televised bouts in December 2021 and May 2022. A right wrist injury forced Gomez to withdraw, however, from a fight against former 154-pound champion Jeison Rosario that was scheduled for November 5 at The Armory in Minneapolis.
That injury required physical therapy, not surgery, but it is primarily responsible for a 13-month layoff Gomez will end when he meets Marquis Taylor in the co-feature of a “Showtime Championship Boxing” tripleheader Saturday night at Boardwalk Hall’s Adrian Phillips Theater in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Showtime will televise the 10-round middleweight match between Gomez (6-0, 5 KOs) and Taylor (14-1-2, 1 KO), of Galena Park, Texas, immediately before Philadelphia’s Jaron Ennis (30-0, 27 KOs, 1 NC) defends his IBF interim welterweight title versus Venezuela’s Roiman Villa (26-1, 24 KOs) in the 12-round main event. The premium cable channel’s telecast is set to start at 9:30 p.m. EDT (6:30 p.m. PDT) with a 10-round lightweight bout in which Dominican southpaw Edwin De Los Santos (15-1, 14 KOs) will face Joseph Adorno (17-2-2, 14 KOs), of Allentown, Pennsylvania.
“He’s a good fighter, has a good record, but he has to show his worth inside the ring,” Gomez told BoxingScene.com when asked about Taylor.
The 29-year-old Taylor has knocked out only one of his 17 professional opponents. He has beaten four undefeated fighters, though, seemingly deserved a victory over then-undefeated Paul Kroll in what was officially declared an eight-round split draw in February 2022, and is 6-0 against southpaws.
Taylor outboxed previously undefeated Detroit native Marlon Harrington (9-1, 8 KOs) two fights ago. Showtime televised Taylor’s eight-round, unanimous-decision victory over Harrington as part of its prospect series, “ShoBox: The New Generation,” on October 21 from Bally’s Grand Ballroom in Atlantic City.
The 25-year-old Gomez, who is trained by Joe Goossen, hopes an impressive victory over Taylor leads to higher-profile fights. He’ll box at the middleweight limit of 160 pounds for the first time when he opposes Taylor, yet Gomez is confident he is ready for anyone in the junior middleweight or middleweight divisions.
“I don’t really have a name in mind,” Gomez said. “It’s just about fighting the top fighters at 154 and 160. I wanna show that I’m someone to be contended with. … I want fans to see a renewed Yoelvis Gomez and for them to be like, ‘Oh, wow! He’s really ready to fight the best in the world.’ ”
Carlos Adames is among the “best in the world” that Gomez believes he is ready to challenge, despite his limited experience as a professional. The Dominican Republic’s Adames (23-1, 18 KOs) most recently defended his WBC interim middleweight title June 24, when he stopped another former 154-pound champion, Julian Williams, in the ninth round at The Armory.
“Not only would Adames be a really good fight for me, but the fans would really like the fight,” Gomez said. “We would really put on a show for them if it were to happen.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.