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Abraham Perez鈥檚 April 4 victory over Esneth Domingo was a boxing master class 鈥� a portrait in time of the skills the sa国际传媒官网网页入口 fighter had acquired and honed over his many years in the amateur and professional ranks.

Perez, the 27-year-old sa国际传媒官网网页入口an nicknamed 鈥淗ammer,鈥� won every round on all three official scorecards at the Embassy Suites that night, making a quality opponent in the person of Domingo (22-5, 14 knockouts) look helplessly overmatched.

Now comes Jonathan Gonzalez, an opponent several cuts above Domingo or anyone else Perez has faced as a pro.

Sunday in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Perez and Gonzalez will fight for the WBA interim flyweight (112-pound) title.

Gonzalez (29-4-2 14 KOs), 35, a native of Brooklyn, New York but a resident of Caguas, Puerto Rico, is a former light flyweight (108-pound) world champion. Videos of his past fights depict a boxer-puncher with a style either tactical or aggressive, depending on what鈥檚 needed at a given time. He鈥檚 a southpaw; Perez (14-0, seven KOs) has faced only one other left-hander during his pro career, and that was in his fifth bout, a six-rounder, almost four years ago.

"He's calm (in the ring), Perez said of Gonzalez during a recent interview. "He's not gonna gas himself out or anything like that. 鈥� He's pretty slick, too.

鈥淗e knows when to get in, when to get out. I guess that鈥檚 what I鈥檓 expecting.鈥�

What Perez expects from himself is an ability to deal with whatever comes.

鈥淚 do have confidence,鈥� he said, 鈥渢hat my knowledge is going to get me to the level that I need to be at. I believe I have the knowledge, I have the necessities, to deal with a southpaw.鈥�

That knowledge, those necessities, were earned through experience.

At the height of an outstanding amateur career, Perez won the 2019 Golden Gloves national flyweight title and twice defeated Californian Anthony Herrera in winning the U.S. Olympic Trials.

USA Boxing, the amateur sport鈥檚 governing body, nonetheless chose Herrera to compete (unsuccessfully) in international box-offs held to determine who鈥檇 advance to the Tokyo Olympics.

鈥淚 wanted to quit,鈥� Perez said of his disappointment. 鈥淏ut I also saw the roster of what was going to be happening for the rest of 2020.鈥�

So, Perez filed away any residual bitterness stemming from his Olympic snub and traveled to international amateur tournaments in Spain and France, where he faced both past and future Olympians (and a couple of talented southpaws). He briefly considered remaining in the amateurs with an eye on the 2024 Olympics but, instead followed his older brother, Aaron Angel Perez, into the pros.

The Perez brothers have been fortunate in that their father, Aaron Perez, has been a boxing promoter since 2015. Abraham, matched carefully but progressively against fighters with different levels of experience and varied skill sets, has not come close to losing a fight.

But, in August 2024, he almost lost his life.

Just days away from a highly anticipated showdown against fellow sa国际传媒官网网页入口 unbeaten Matt Griego-Ortega, Perez blacked out while doing breathing-control exercises in his family鈥檚 swimming pool. His heart had stopped.

Quick responses by his family and paramedics, followed by advanced care at UNM Hospital, had him back on his feet in a remarkably short time.

In coming back to the ring, he made it look like riding a bike.

Two fights into his return, Perez found himself in his birth city of El Paso facing a tough and experienced opponent in Angel Geovanny Meza, whose record at the time was 9-3-3 with six knockouts. Perez prevailed by unanimous eight-round decision.

At that point, any concerns that effects of the near-drowning had lingered seemed put to rest.

Perez himself needed a little more convincing, not totally unchanged by his brush with death. He still has some memory loss, he said, from the few weeks before the incident.

鈥淚 like to be a little realistic and point out that maybe it did take a little bit out of me,鈥� he said. 鈥淪omething I don鈥檛 know yet what it could be.

鈥淏ut my reaction time is still there. 鈥� My reaction, my timing 鈥� I didn鈥檛 forget how to box, so that鈥檚 a plus right there.鈥�

On Dec. 12 at the Kiva Auditorium, Perez defeated Adrian Yair Ybarra by fifth-round TKO, claiming the NABF flyweight title. With the victory over Domingo came the IBF international flyweight belt, adding to Perez鈥檚 collection of national/regional titles that now stands at six.

Far more meaningful is the WBA interim world title, held by Gonzalez since his victory by unanimous decision over Yankiel Rivera on Jan. 3, that Perez will seek to claim in Grand Rapids.

Whether a Perez victory on Sunday would lead to a world title shot, and if so when, is unknown. 鈥淚nterim鈥� means whatever a particular sanctioning body wants it to mean.

The WBA flyweight world champion is Ricardo Sandoval (27-2, 18 KOs), who won the title in Japan last July, has not fought since and according to does not have a title defense scheduled.

This spring, Perez signed a promotional contract for a world title fight against WBO flyweight champion Anthony Olascuaga of Los Angeles, only to have the Olascuaga camp reject Perez as an opponent.

Perez doesn鈥檛 believe Olascuaga鈥檚 people were afraid of him, more likely that they simply didn鈥檛 know enough about him.

"There's a little bit of footage on me (online)," Perez said, "but not a lot for them to study."

Olascuaga (12-1, nine KOs) is scheduled to defend the WBO title against Andy Dominguez on July 11.

Among Olascuaga鈥檚 12 victories is a win by first-round TKO over Gonzalez, Perez鈥檚 opponent on Sunday. But that outcome was the controversial result of a clash of heads.

For Perez, the trip to Grand Rapids will be the first by airplane 鈥� largely thanks to the local cards staged by his father/promoter 鈥� he鈥檚 undertaken as a pro. But his travel as an amateur to Bulgaria, Spain and France should leave him unfazed.

Sunday's bout is scheduled for 12 rounds. Perez had never been past 10 rounds; Gonzalez has gone the 12-round distance six times.

Something else: impending fatherhood. Perez鈥檚 life partner, Megan Almager, is expecting the couple鈥檚 first child, due to arrive in late July-early August.

New challenges and potential distractions, then, abound.

But anyone who watched the Domingo fight in April could attest that total focus is a Perez trademark.