Amir Khan must not fall prey to Gomez

He is known as 'The Predator' or 'The Irish Mexican', and like all good stories, the life of Michael 'Gomez' Armstrong has been made into a film.

Predator: Gomez's turbulent life is reflected in the ring

Gomez will be celebrating his 31st birthday when he steps into the ring against Amir Khan, Britain's most vaunted up-and-coming fighter, at the Birmingham NIA on Jun 21. But Gomez remains an enigmatic, beguiling story.

One of nine siblings from an Irish traveller family in Dublin, his family moved to Moston, Manchester, when he was 10-years-old. He has fought in the three divisions featherweight, superfeather and lightweight. When he got his boxing licence, he changed his name to Gomez, in honour of WBC super-bantamweight champion Wilfredo Gómez.

Turbulent, controversial, and that is just his life. His fights have mirrored that.

Perhaps such a life was pre-destined. Even as his mother was driving herself to the hospital to give birth to him, she crashed the car into a lamp post and gave birth to him on the back seat of the car. They were in Navan.

His family moved to Manchester when Gomez was aged 10, and there were problems in the family. His father's eyesight began to fail and his mother left the family to elope with another woman. Gomez was in and out of children's homes, and involved in petty crime. At nine, Gomez joined Brian Hughes' Collyhurst and Moston Lads' Club. His career took off.

Twelve years ago he was charged with murder after a gang fight outside a nightclub in Manchester. Gomez had hit one of the men, who as a result of the blow banged his head on the pavement and died. The murder charge was later reduced to manslaughter and Gomez was cleared. It was ruled that he had acted in self-defence.

In another street fight Gomez was stabbed and his heart stopped beating for 48 seconds while on the operating table. In the ring, his all-action brawling style brought him legions of followers, who wear sombreros to his fights.

In the highest profile fight of his career, in 2003, against Edinburgh-based Alex Arthur, for the British superfeatherweight title, Gomez stole the headlines after stopping Arthur in the fifth round. Gomez insisted that he keeps his best for the big occasion. It remains to be seen what Gomez may, or may not, have left in the tank. But while this fight against Khan lasts, the young Boltonian had better not lose his head against 'the Irish Mexican'.