I was happy for my excellent performance against Jesse Brinkley, but the real test began after The Contender Finale. After campaigning at middle weight for the duration of The Contender I was ready to come back to my original weight, Welterweight. I was thrilled to fight in Los Angeles, because all my family and friends could go and see me fight. And what better way than with a fellow Mexican fighter. I took a fight against a very hard hitting Mexican from Chicago, Luciano Perez. Luciano's manager quoted after accepting the fight, "Alfonso has never been kit by a puncher with the power of Luciano. I know Alfonso likes to fight on the inside so I predict a KO within 4 rounds."

Knowing that Luciano was a puncher and also a little shorter than me, my dad and I worked on counter punching. The training ran smoothly. But the weight was hell to make. I had to make 147+1 lbs and I was struggling. Not because I wasn't keeping my dietary meals. Not because I was slacking off at the gym. It was because I had gained so much muscle for my previous fight that I couldn't lose it in time for the fight. The night before the Weight-In I ran five miles with my sweat suit to sweat off as much as I could. I went to bed weighting 150 lbs and I figured I'd lose 2 in my sleep. The morning of the Weigh-In I went to the gym early to check my weight. 150!! I couldn't believe I didn't lose any weight. But I could only complain momentarily because time was running out, so I put my sweat suit on and trained. After a short training session I had lost 1 lb. I figured that I'd weight my self in the official scale and maybe if I covered myself well I would lose the extra pound during the remaining 5 hours before the Weight-In.

My manager Gary was waiting for me at the hotel. I could see his worried eyes from the call I made to him a few hour prior. The official scale read 149. I was happy that I lost a pound, but angry because I had to use the Hotel's treadmill to try and lose the other one. Long sleeves shirt, Sweat Suit, and a Jacket covered my upper body. I ran for 30 minutes and I didn't lose a drop of sweat. Gary said, "Stop running. You don't need to deplete yourself anymore. Let me see how I can handle this." He came to an agreement with my opponents camp that I would pay Luciano $1000 dollars from my purse. Wow. 1 pound caused me $1000 dollars. But I was glad I didn't have to run anymore. The fight was set. I weight in 149 and he came in at 146.

On fight night, 10,000 screaming fans filled the air with the need for war! I remember waiting for my entrance music to enter the arena. First Luciano's music began. It was a Mexican song. The fan's screamed loudly but quickly faded when they realized it was my opponent. Then my music began "Guadalajara Guadalajara" The fans resumed their screams and when I came out, the euphoric chants of "Gomez Gomez" multiplied. The feeling of all their energy centered in me fueled me with motivation to perform at my best. From the initial bell of the fight I dominated Luciano. Although Luciano had good power, I didn't feel the kind of power everyone claimed he had. I jabbed him and kept him at bay while at the same time put pressure on him. I punished him for four rounds until the referee thought that enough was enough. I didn't understand what Luciano's manager said about predicting a KO under the four round limits, but now I DO!