‘IT STARTED OFF as a joke’ says Michael Gomez of his adopted surname.
But there is little to make you break your sides laughing when listening to the story of the Irish fighter, born Armstrong in a car on the side of a Longford road.
The production is the result of Bernard Dunne’s trip to Moston in Manchester to speak with the man with whom he once shared an infamous card in the National Stadium. But if you still need further convincing, read on.
Manchester has been Armstrong’s home since he was nine years old, the family having upped sticks after his sister Louise died in Dublin. In England, Armstrong was left behind as his brother and mother ran off a neighbour each.
Armstrong himself fell for Alison, ‘a pretty good shop-lifter’ at the age of 13 and was a father before his 18th birthday.
At 19 years of age, and now going by the name Gomez, he claimed a life. ‘A big left hook that just went terribly wrong’ outside of a night club, he tells Dunne.
The charges against him dropped from premeditated murder to manslaughter before Gomez was found not guilty, but after an impressive career as a super featherweight, Gomez still sounds haunted by the name Sam Powell to this day.
On his way to three titles, Gomez now admits he was drinking heavily, doing amphetamines and cocaine within weeks of professional bouts.
‘It encouraged me to party more,” Gomez tells Dunne. And so the downward spiral was at full speed.
In 2006, Gomez fought Peter McDonagh in the National Stadium and, in the fifth round, he appeared to give up. Letting his hands drop as McDonagh landed punch after punch and floored Gomez.
“It was just mad. There’s no other way to say it – something that will haunt me for the rest of my life.
“I just don’t know what happened.”
Take 40 minutes to listen to the documentary for yourself here
‘That was real life, it’s not a story.”
A big advantage leinster have is that they have had competive games against very good opposition and still come into the game fresh.
Hopefully will conners chop tackles their ball carriers out of the game and the ref keeps their defencive line on side. Presure is firmly on the English too. Lose this and their year is over as a club where as leinster have the league title in the cabinet. So the season won’t end up a zero even if they are beat.
@Chris Mc: ah come on, having the pro 14 in the bag means zero to Leinster it’s a rubbish competition consisting of second and third string teams. It’s win or nothing for Leinster today !
@Darren Mullins: a 5 nation tournament means zero? Winning a single interpro match is a massive win. I’m sorry you have been spoilt but if you think the league is nothing ask any fan of the western province was winning the league meaningless.
@Darren Mullins: if it was meaningless why did they try so hard to win it?
@Rudiger McMonihan: Well Leinster’s best player and captain was on the bench rested for the final. So that tells a lot about how the competition is viewed.
@Gareth Ward: exactly it’s a joke of a competition!
@Chris Mc: if they could get the south African franchises to sign, then it would be a credible competition!!
Sarries by 3
@Cortiss: …thats an early morning ball hop anyway!! Match on now, Canterbury vs Taranaki and it is as good a rugby contest as I’ve seen in near 60 yrs. Try to catch a re-run if you want to be entertained. Its genuinely a classic.
Leinster by 12, they are just unstoppable
@Patrick O Connell: haha