Wilfredo "Bazooka" Gomez was a force to be reckoned with in the professional boxing world. Out of 48 career bouts (mostly in the Jr. Featherweight division), Gomez won 42 by knockout. He successfully defended his title 17 consecutive times by knockout, a world record that still stands 20 years later. He was a star inside the ring and out. Women loved his charismatic, boyish looks. Men admired his physical prowess. In his native Puerto Rico, he became a cause célèbre, providing abundant material for sports writers and gossip columnists alike. His fame spanned two decades but when it ended, his world came crashing down. His excesses inside and outside the ring finally caught up with him. Thus began the most challenging battle of his life.
After his retirement, Wilfredo was diagnosed with a progressive neurological disorder due to the many punches he received during his career. At age 45, he is now a shell of his former self, dangerously overweight and with a hoarse speaking voice (the result of a punch that broke his vocal chords). Given to bouts of depression, he succumbed to the lure of drugs and was arrested 5 times for drug possession. His wife charged him with spousal abuse and was forced to leave him, as did most of his family and friends.
"Bazooka: The Battles of Wilfredo Gomez" documents the rise and fall of a boxing hero like no other film before it. It shows the gradual deterioration of a man who was broken by the sport he loved dearly and his struggle to pick up the pieces of his life. It also takes a close look at the brutal and exhilarating sport of boxing and its effect on one of its brightest stars. Honest and unflinching, this film is designed to challenge your opinions of boxing, whatever they may be.
The film features exclusive interviews with boxing greats Bernard Hopkins, José "Chegüí" Torres, and Félix Trinidad, Sr., as well as Gomez promoter Don King, manager Yamil Chade, friends, family, advisers, sports journalists, and Wilfredo himself.