The US has a number of very young but very, very promising prospects coming through at the moment with one of those being 20 year old Frankie Gomez (12-0, 9) a fighter many are tipping as a sure-fire star of the future. Not only due to his links with Golden Boy Promotions and their head honcho Oscar De La Hoya, who has praised Gomez highly since he signed but also his exceptional amateur pedigree.
Gomez first became a "fighter to watch" in 2007 when he won the 54KG division at the World Cadet Championships in Baku. On route to winning the competition he stopped 3 of his 4 opponents, with only finalist Elvin Aliyev managing to survive the schedule with Gomez.
Gomez's success would continue in the amateur as he went on to claim the 2009 US National Championships, beating the highly touted Jose Benevidez Jr in the final. Whilst the victory over Benevidez was a notable win, the year just got better for Gomez who went on to claim the Silver medal at the 2009 World Championships, losing in the final to Cuban superstar Rosniel Iglesias (who went on to claim Gold at the 2012 Olympic Games).
Following his amateur success Gomez decided to turn professional in 2010 rather than remaining in the amateur ranks for the 2012 Olympic Games. He swiftly signed on to Oscar De La Hoya's "Golden Boy Promotions" and made his professional debut in April of that year stopping Clayvonne Howard in the 3rd round of a bout on the under-card of Bernard Hopkins v Roy Jones Jr II.
By the end of 2010 Gomez had swiftly and effectively moved his professional record on to 7-0 (6) with only the experienced Ramon Montano managing to survive the distance. The following year saw Gomez continue his development, and his winning run as he scored 5 more wins (3 by T/KO) however for the first time as a professional he struggled as the under-rated Adrian Granados pushed him close.
Since defeating James Hope in December 2011, Gomez hasn't fought, however he returns to the ring this coming Saturday to face experienced Mexican Manuel Leyva (21-9, 12). Whilst on paper Leyva is a good opponent, it needs to be noted that Leyva ia 1-7 in his last 8 contests dating back over 3 years and has been stopped 5 times over those 8 bouts.
