Boxing manager Gabriel (Bebot) Elorde Jr. is bidding to promote a rematch between Zamboanga Sibugay?s Silvester Lopez and Mexico?s Juan Jose Montes in Manila on Dec. 4 with WBC president Jose Sulaiman confirming that the proposal will be taken up in the governing body?s annual convention in Cancun on Nov. 1-6.
Elorde has offered Montes a net purse of $20,000 with three round-trip airplane tickets to face Lopez here. Last Oct. 2, Montes beat Lopez on a disputed sixth round technical decision in a WBC superflyweight title eliminator in Guadalajara. Lopez was promised $18,000 for the fight but returned to Manila with an unsettled balance of $9,800. The balance was later remitted by Mexican promoter Hector Garcia only it was $1,000 short of the contracted amount. Garcia deducted $1,000 from the purse to pay for the WBC sanction fee but Elorde said the contract stipulated the amount to be covered by the promoter.
Elorde made an impassioned appeal to Sulaiman to approve the rematch, calling on the WBC?s integrity and fairness. He said Lopez? knockdown in the first round was clearly a mistake as Montes pushed him to the canvas after landing a rabbit punch on the neck. Referee Frank Gentile counted a mandatory eight on Lopez. In the rematch, Elorde said he will request the WBC for neutral judges.
Montes suffered a bad cut over the right eyebrow in the second round and it appeared that the wound was inflicted by a legitimate blow. Instead, Gentile said it was caused by a headbutt, slapping an automatic one-point deduction on the Filipino. Before the start of the sixth round, Montes was ruled unfit to continue because of the cut and declared the winner on points as all three Mexican judges scored it 48-45.
?I will take a DVD (of the fight) to the convention where a decision will be taken,? said Sulaiman. ?At this time, just days before the convention, we have no authority for any ruling which must come from the convention. I believe that the ratings committee has kept Lopez in the position that he had before the fight.?
Sulaiman?s disclosure of Lopez staying as the WBC No. 2 contender was a veritable admission that something went wrong in deciding the outcome of the fight against the No.1 rated Montes.
Elorde said the rematch should determine once and for all who is the rightful mandatory challenger of WBC titleholder Tomas Rojas. Lopez appeared to be gaining ground when Montes, bleeding from his cut, was not allowed to continue the bout.
Elorde is now arranging to air the abbreviated bout on local TV so fans may jud
