TONIGHT, all roads lead to the Cebu City Waterfront Hotel and Casino, and at the conclusion of ?Now or Never?, Z ?The Dream? Gorres will either be hailed as our country?s newest boxing superstar or become a footnote to Vic Darchinyan?s quest for redemption.
Here are your notes to the big dance:
Z GORRES, 27-2 (15 KOs)
STRENGTHS. Boxing skills. Z is a smooth boxer with a wide repertoire of punches. He likes to look for punching angles and his superior footwork allows him to maneuver himself into scoring opportunities
Defense. Z likes to set up traps and make you miss by a mile so he can smack you with sharp counters. What?s impressive is that he doesn?t even move that much, but relies more on his superb instinct at dodging enemy artillery by mere inches.
WEAKNESSES. Lack of punching power. Z doesn?t sit down on his punches too much because he likes to get back on defense and reposition himself.
BEST PERFORMANCE. Ironically, Z?s best performance may have been his split decision loss to Fernando Montiel. To many, Z deserved to win that fight. Montiel was a world champion and ranked among the top 100 boxers in the world by the Ring Magazine. But Z showed he belonged in the same ring with him and, at times, made Montiel look silly by moving so well and making the latter swing at nothing but empty air.
VIC DARCHINYAN 29-1 (23 KOs)
STRENGTHS. Power. Mike Tyson once said, ?Everybody has a plan, before they get hit?. He?s correct and Vic subscribes to that tenet. ?The Raging Bull? is a very confident fighter because he knows that he really doesn?t have to outbox an opponent. Hit ?em hard enough and sooner or later, they?ll go.
WEAKNESSES. Defense. Darchinyan carries his hands low and often leads himself open when setting up his power punches. Nonito Donaire saw the opening and capitalized on it big time.
BEST PERFORMANCE- Came out of nowhere to pancake erstwhile undefeated IBF flyweight king Irene Pacheco in 11 rounds.
EXPECT THE FIGHT: To be the boxing counterpart of a basketball game between an offensive minded team and a defensive oriented one. Whoever imposes his will over the other wins.
Vic has vowed to score a knockout and so he will look for it early. No sense in prolonging it. He will look for openings to unleash his deadly combos.
Z will look to make Vic miss and make him pay with flush counters. He will bide his time and box beautifully.
PREDICTION. Z doesn?t have Donaire?s power so Vic may come in straight looking for the big knockout. Had this fight taken place pre-Donaire, Darchinyan would be a runaway winner.
But the Donaire fight exposed Vic?s weaknesses. His wide looping punches can easily be parried or picked off by Z who is a savvy ring general. The key here is how Z reacts when he gets hit.
The prevailing wisdom is that Z will be taken out of his game plan and succumb to Darchinyan?s pressure. But I think he has learned a lot from the Montiel fight and will unleash a boxing clinic to win via unanimous decision
THE LAST ROUND. It?s on a couple of Sacred Hearters who turn a year older this week, Justine Gorne and one of my best friends, Sigfred Melleza. Cheers !
