Glenn McCrory doffs his sombrero to Michael Gomez as he brings his colourful career to a close.
The rollercoaster ride is over for beaten Gomez
So that looks like the end of what has been, shall we say, a colourful career for Michael Gomez.
He is the tough little guy with the tough upbringing who thought boxing was all about trying to dominate and scare his opponent.
Sometimes he over-stepped the mark and I've got to be honest, it did wear a bit thin, but whatever you say about Michael Gomez, he didn't do dull.
Take Friday night at the Bellahouston Sports Centre, Glasgow. Yes, Ricky Burns was the local fighter and yes, he had some decent support, but that place was packed. And it was packed for one reason: Michael Gomez.
OK, people do not exactly come to cheer him on. In fact, I was a bit worried at first because I thought the crowd were singing "Glenn McCrory what a ******, what a ******!", but it turned out to be in Michael's honour. But for years now, crowds up and down Britain have known what he will bring to the table.
He knows how to get people interested; he knows how to get media attention and although I do think he goes a little over the top with the verbals, he knows what sells tickets.
Does he need to be sticking his face in his opponent's every waking moment, though? I don't think so.
Boxing does need characters and they are few and far between these days, but I still prefer those that can be gentlemen outside the ring, but raise hell in it.
We will be talking a lot about Michael's good mate Ricky Hatton in the coming weeks but there is a man who is polite, humorous and self-deprecating in the run-up to a big fight and then, when the bell sounds, it's no more Mr Nice Guy!
Gomez does things the other way round. But he is what he is and has never changed or claimed to be anything else. He has had his peaks and troughs, as you'd expect from someone so wild, out of the ring at least.
Suckered
We all remember the pinnacle of his career when he wound Alex Arthur up no end and suckered him into a fight that the Scot lost. And when Alex looks back on his career, he will know that is the one fight he should've won. Not that long ago Gomez also had Amir Khan down and in trouble, so he clearly was more than a big mouth.
The Arthur fight was a classic example of when Michael's tactics worked to perfection, but there are times when they backfired as well.
It was a great finish from Burns on Friday and it was almost as if it was a case of 'take that for what you said when the fight was announced'; 'take that for what you said at the press conference' and 'take that for what you said at the weigh-in'!
But Michael Gomez isn't stupid, he will know that and by and large he managed to carry that intensity with him into the ring.
In the end though, it just wasn't there. Yes, against Burns he was still boldly walking forward as he's done throughout his career, but he wasn't getting any shots off.
Nightmare
All those blows in the ring and all the blow-outs out of it, had taken their toll and his brain just wasn't reacting as quick as it used to. The soles of his feet were stuck to the canvas, it was quite a sad ending when it eventually came.
Mind you, even then he was still a nightmare, still a complete nuisance - you certainly wouldn't want to spill his pint on a Friday night - and that will always be the abiding memory of Michael Gomez as a fighter.
For all his bad-mouthing he has been a tremendous servant to the sport and if he can control his wild ways out of the ring - I now go out training with my lads at a time when I used to be coming home from a night out - I can see him training kids in Manchester, putting something back into a sport which has given him so much.
He might not look like trainer material, but if anyone can tell kids about what boxing can do for you, it's Michael Gomez.
But first, he wants two more fights to make it to 50, and it would be a great milestone for him to retire at.
Unfortunately there is no room whatsoever for sentiment in boxing and I can only hope it isn't two more batterings, because love him or hate him, you have to raise your sombrero to him...
What is your opinion of Michael Gomez? Do you have any stand-out moments from his career? Should he call it quits now - or have those two fights he's talked about? Let us know by filling in the feedback form below...
