Farewell to “Bazooka” Gómez: Puerto Rico honours the boxing legend on Thursday
Fans can pay their respects to Wilfredo Gómez at the Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan on Thursday – the venue where he won his first world title in 1977.
Archive image · Photo: Mtmelendez / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped and resized)
Puerto Rico will bid farewell to Wilfredo “Bazooka” Gómez on Thursday, October 15. The public tribute takes place from noon to 6 p.m. local time at the Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan, according to El Nuevo Día. The city is organising it with the family and representatives of the boxing community; flags at municipal buildings will fly at half-staff for five days.
Mayor Miguel Romero said holding the tribute at the Clemente has a very special meaning, and that the city joins the family and the boxing community to honour his life, career and legacy. At the arena, according to FightNews, Gómez won the WBC super bantamweight title against Dong-Kyun Yum on May 21, 1977, aged 20.
Gómez died on Saturday at the age of 69.