“Black Panther” Juan Carlos Gomez moves down to cruiserweight

“I haven’t felt this good in years”, says Gomez. “The “Black Panther” is back and hungry! It’s Showtime!” The Cuban who found his adopted home in Hamburg, Germany, turned forty last July and is currently training in L.A. to get ready for his ring return after a long lay-off.

“Over the last couple of years I lost my focus”, adds Gomez. “I was only fighting for money and did not enjoy what I was doing. After the Klitschko fight I lost my motivation and love for the sport. But that changed dramatically. I’m back to my old self. And I want to become world champion again!”

In March 2009, the “Black Panther” – who had been a longtime world cruiserweight champion before – challenged Vitali Klitschko for the WBC heavyweight crown and was stopped in the ninth round. After that Gomez did a couple of fights but looked lackluster and lazy carrying more than 250 lbs. Now he’s back in training and ready to drop down to 200 lbs.

“I saw Guillermo Jones beating up Denis Lebedev in May”, says Gomez. “Jones is 41. So I thought: I can do that, too! I can and will be world champion again!” In the meantime Jones has been stripped from his WBA championship because he tested positive after the Lebedev fight. However, Gomez is sure that he can make it back to the top without any illegal substances. “My shape is the result of hard training. I am clean!”, emphasizes the “Black Panther”.

The Cuban doesn’t want to waste any time on his way back to glory. In case he wins on November 1st against Buharalija and doesn’t get injured he wants to fight again as soon as November 23rd to move up in the ratings and get in line for a title shot against WBC cruiserweight champion Krysztof Wlodarczyk.

The card on November 1st in Dachau also features local hero Alexander Petkovic (47-4-4), another former cruiserweight contender who will take on Chupaki Chipindi (11-4) from Tanzania. The show will be broadcasted live on Eurosport starting at 21.00h / 9pm local time.