[3][4] In 2006, Gomez suffered a controversial loss to Peter McDonagh when, in the middle of a round, he dropped his guard and walked out of the ring, later saying he had retired from boxing.

On 21 June 2008, Gomez lost what was seen as possibly his last bout: a last chance saloon opportunity to resurrect his career against rising star and Olympic silver medallist Amir Khan.

His mother went into labour with him while driving, so his partially sighted father took over the wheel but crashed the car into a lamp post on the way to the hospital; Michael was delivered in the back seat.

After his younger sister, Louise, died from sudden infant death syndrome, his mother left the family to live with another woman.

He also played football for a local North Manchester team until the club received so many fines for Armstrong's fighting on the pitch that they were unable to pay them.

He chose his ring name in honour of Puerto Rican boxer Wilfredo Gómez, whose videotaped fights Armstrong had studied intently as a youth.

His ring entrance music is that of a Mexican Mariachi band, a reference to his Hispanic-sounding chosen name, and many of his supporters wear sombreros to his fights and wave Irish flags.

Gomez also wears long Mexican-style boxing shorts in the colours of the flag of Ireland and often has the shape of a shamrock shaved into the hair on the back of his head.

[6][10][14] In his debut fight at the G-Mex Leisure Centre, Manchester, England, Gomez beat previously undefeated Danny Ruegg on the undercard of a bill that included Robin Reid and Michael Brodie.

Despite this initial win, Gomez's early career was littered with losses to journeyman fighters such as Greg Upton and Chris Williams.

His first fight in the division, in September 1999, was for the vacant British super featherweight title, against the experienced and much heralded Liverpudlian fighter Gary Thornhill.

[2] Gomez's first fight in 2001 was on 10 February against Hungarian boxer Laszlo Bognar for the WBO Inter-Continental super featherweight title, in Widnes, Cheshire.

[20] He followed up his victory over Bognar with a second-round knockout of Scottish fighter Craig Docherty for another British super featherweight title win.

[2] His next opponent was unbeaten West Ham-based fighter Kevin Lear on 1 June 2002, again in Manchester, on the undercard of the Ricky Hatton vs. Eamonn Magee fight.

[2] Lear, a former Amateur Boxing Association of England (ABA) champion, kept a one-dimensional Gomez at bay with his sharp jab from the outset of the fight.

At the end of the eighth round Gomez's trainer Brian Hughes retired his fighter, giving Lear a surprise victory.

[4][19] Following his change in trainer, Gomez was contracted for the highest profile fight of his career against Edinburgh-based fighter "Amazing" Alex Arthur for the British and WBA Inter-Continental super featherweight titles.

He was a strong favourite to win the bout against Gomez, who was perceived to have been through too many battles and abused his body too much, and the fight was seen as a stepping stone on Arthur's way to a future world championship.

The match was turning into a clash of opposing styles, Arthur displaying control and boxing technique and Gomez storming forward with wild ferocity.

Gomez dominated the fourth round and was in full control of the fight—he exposed Arthur's weak defence and at one stage landed 28 punches without reply.

Boxing promoter Frank Warren called the fight "the greatest contest seen on these shores since Nigel Benn beat Gerald McClellan in 1995".

Gomez then faced Argentinian boxer "El Vikingo" Javier Osvaldo Alvarez in February 2005, once again fighting at the MEN Arena in Manchester.

WBO super middleweight title holder Joe Calzaghe had been scheduled to top the bill but pulled out of his arranged fight, and Gomez and Alvarez were slotted as the main attraction.

Referee Mickey Vann stopped the fight after 2 minutes 25 seconds of the round with Gomez pinned to the ropes and taking significant punishment.

"[5][35][36] The Boxing Union of Ireland (BUI) initially suspended both fighters' purses, and investigated reports of unusual betting patterns, with large sums of money being placed on McDonagh to win inside the distance and more specifically in the fifth round.

[36] Following their investigation, the BUI released the purses to each of the fighters, stating "Michael Gomez and Peter McDonagh confirmed that neither they, their families, nor any person in their camp, as far as they were aware, betted on the fight.

"[37] The BUI did express disappointment that the bookmaker, Boylesports, who had suspended wagering on the bout due to the unusual betting patterns, had chosen not to reply to the investigators' queries.

In May 2007, fifteen months after his fight with McDonagh, he returned to the ring to face Daniel Thorpe at the Altrincham Leisure Centre, Manchester.

[42] Gomez had left the Phoenix Gym and was now training at Bobby Rimmers' Boxing Academy in Stalybridge, Manchester, and had returned to fight in the super featherweight division.

The Leeds fighter then gained the upper hand as the fight went on, flooring Gomez in the sixth round only for the "Irish Mexican" to rise from the canvas.