MANILA – In a night of jubilation for the Cebuanos, a vastly improved Z Gorres made Deeden Kengkarun of Thailand a human punching bag in the main event of the Viva Entertainment Group Inc. card “The Return of Z Gorres” Saturday night at the packed San Andres Sports Complex in San Andres, Manila.
In the same card, SGG Stable’s Michael Domingo, also of Cebu, snatched the RP bantamweight title away from Joel Bauya with a split technical decision in the ninth round.
Gorres was visibly quicker, more accurate and stronger than Kengkarun, who was a former regional champion and was among the “protected” boxers of Thailand. The marked improvement was credited to his three-month stint at the Buddy McGirt Gym in Florida.
However, there is one facet of Gorres’ game that needs to be further developed – finishing off a reeling opponent.
Deeden was aggressive in the early goings, exchanging blows with the Cebuano from the first until the dying seconds of the second round. But the Thai failed to sustain his fighting stance when Gorres knocked him down with an uppercut-straight combination with 30 seconds left in the second round.
After surviving the ordeal, Kengka-run kept his distance. When cornered, he clinched, held, head butted and even wrestled just to stay in the fight until the 10th and final round.
Gorres suffered a deep cut on the left eye that needed seven stitches to shut after an accidental collision of heads in the third round.
The fight was nearly ended in the sixth when Gorres tagged Deeden in the corner with a series of straight-hook-uppercut combination, but the Thai fighter got out of the tight spot when he wrestled Gorres, who landed on his back allowing the former Pan-Asian Boxing Association (Paba) light-flyweight champion to regain some strength.
After 10 rounds, judges Dennis Principe, Ricardo Canlas and Epe Almeda saw the same one-sided fight and scored identical 100-88 scores, all favoring the Cebuano.
A busy-punching Bauya looked deceivingly dominating from the start until the time of the stoppage, when a nasty cut on Domingo’s right eyebrow abruptly ended the 12-round fight.
With Bauya throwing numerous combinations, Domingo tightened his defense while occasionally unleashing powerful straights and uppercuts to keep the champion at bay.
Upper hand
Domingo regained the upper hand when he started avoiding close-quarter exchanges, which gave him the edge from the fifth until the end of the fight at the 2:25 of the ninth.
The cut needed nine stitches, while another cut on the left also caused by a head butt in the fifth round needed four stitches.
Judge Almeda scored the fight 78-74 and Canlas saw it 77-75 both for Domingo, while Ferdinand Estrella gave it to Bauya, 77-75.
Cebuano losses
ALA Gym’s Rey Caitom survived an ordeal in the second round before winning by split decision over Pit Angcaya after four rounds. SGG Stable’s Rodel Quilaton beat veteran Gerard Ubatay also by split decision in eight rounds.
However, it was not all victory for the Cebuanos as Arnel Tadena of the AEV Stable lost by split decision to Rodel Tajares in six rounds, SGG’s Isidro Lorona Jr. bowed to Lito Sisnorio also by split decision and Edmund Velayo lost by unanimous decision to Rey Orais.
Before their fight could even heat up, Donnie Nietes and Ni?o Suelo’s heads collided at the 1:26 mark of the opening bell. The fight was declared a technical draw.
