(COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO.) – Seventeen-year-old Frankie Gomez (Los Angeles, Calif.) claimed a silver medal at the 2009 AIBA World Championships in Milan, Italy on Saturday. Gomez, the lone remaining U.S. competitor, lost an 8-2 decision to Cuba’s Roniel Iglesias Sotolongo in their light welterweight final, to take home the silver medal. Prior to his championship round loss, Gomez recorded five straight victories at the Mediolanum Forum in Milan. Sotolongo grabbed the first lead in the championship bout and never let it go, building slowly on his advantage before winning the 8-2 final decision..
Gomez made quite an impression in his first-ever World Championships, impressing his international competitors throughout his run to the finals. He is the first U.S. light welterweight to win a medal at the world championships since the late Vernon Forrest in 1991. Forrest also won a silver medal, losing the championship bout to fellow future professional star Kosta Tszyu in the finals.
The seventeen-year-old Gomez has enjoyed a highly successful 2009, winning his first USA Boxing National Title and a silver medal at the World Championships. He was the youngest boxer in the event to move on to the championship round, and gained vital international experience in his first world championships. Over 540 boxers from 144 nations competed in the bi-annual event in Milan.
Saturday’s Result
141 lbs: Roniel Iglesias Sotolongo, CUB, dec. Frankie Gomez, Los Angeles, Calif./USA, 8-2
USA Boxing, as the national governing body for Olympic-style boxing, is the United States’ member organization of the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) and a member of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC). It is responsible for the selection and management of the United States Olympic Boxing Team, and for the governance and oversight of USA Boxing’s national organization of 38,000 members, 1,400 individual boxing clubs, and 1,600 sanctioned events annually.