Z Gorres falls victim to bum decision

The smell of cheating was so pervasive Saturday night that diehard boxing fans thought the WBO stood for World Boxing Odor, and not as World Boxing Organization.

The Puerto Rico-based governing body came under fire following Z Gorres’ controversial defeat at the hands of WBO super flyweight Fernando Montiel of Mexico at the Cebu City sports complex.

The Filipino challenger dominated the first eight rounds of the scheduled 12-rounder, but still ended up the loser by split decision.

While Gorres appeared to have lost steam in the closing rounds, the skillful Mandaue native piled up enough points with precision-punching in the first eight rounds that not even the two-point deduction could have made a difference if the two judges saw it fair and square.

Montiel won on the scoresheets of Chuck Giampa (114-112) and Raul Caiz (115-111), while Gorres triumphed in the scorecard submitted by Denny Nelson (115-111).

The Bulletin had Gorres winning a close decision.

Referee Samuel Viruet, a Puerto Rican from New York, slapped a point each against Gorres for holding in the 10th and 12th rounds without prior warning, drawing the ire of Tony Aldeguer, Gorres’ chief handler.

"The referee should have warned Gorres first before deducting a point," Aldeguer argued.
Aldeguer organized the world-class boxing card that could rival Las Vegas.
With the way the two judges handled the scoring, Montiel would have still retained the crown by split draw even if there were no deductions.

Still, Aldeguer could not hide his disappointment even if all of his other fighters emerged triumphant.

Rey ‘Boom Boom’ Bautista secured a place on the May 5 Oscar dela Hoya-Floyd Mayweather show with a vicious third-round demolition of last-minute replacement Marino Gonzalez of Mexico while fast-rising super-fly AJ ‘Bazooka’ Banal flattened Komrith 3k Battery in less than a round with a hybrid left hook-uppercut.

In the other title match, Jimrex Jaca stopped Simson Butar-Butar of Indonesia in seven rounds to claim the WBO Intercontinental superfeather crown.

In a four-round special attraction, Bai Elorde, grandson of the late-great world junior-lightweight king Flash Elorde, defeated Joseph Mateo in the two fighters’ pro debut.
For his brave effort, Gorres would still remain the No. 1 contender status, officials of the WBO assured his handlers. Montiel will go home with a purse of 0,000, while Gorres will savor every cent of his ,000 paycheck.