CEBU CITY ? For Z Gorres, today?s showdown with Mexico?s Fernando Montiel is all about making a name for himself.
Long been fighting under the shadow of his much younger stablemate Rey ?Boom Boom? Bautista, Gorres gets the chance to steal the thunder from his hard-hitting buddy when he attempts to knock the World Boxing Organization (WBO) super-flyweight crown off Montiel?s head.
While it is his 12-rounder with Montiel that has the most weight among the three title matches on tap at the Cebu Sports Complex, Gorres? title challenge will serve as the main supporting bout to the Bautista?s collision with last-minute substitute Marino Gonzalez of Mexico with the vacant WBO Intercontinental super-bantam belt at stake.
In the other championship duel, Jimrex Jaca aims to wrest the WBO Asia-Pacific super-feather title from Simson Butar-Butar of Indonesia.
The last time a world title fight was held in Cebu was in May, 1997 on Mactan Island featuring Gerry Pe?alosa.
The last few days, all the pre-fight talk have revolved around how strong and how gutsy Bautista is and fans have almost forgotten that it is Gorres? meeting with Montiel that has all the trappings of title match written all over it.
If Gorres succeeds in upsetting Montiel, he will become the only Filipino boxer today who has a legitimate world title.
While Manny Pacquiao is widely regarded as the best 130-pounder in the whole wide world, the GenSan hitter doesn?t have a titlebelt to speak of.
Gorres now stares at the possibility of winning one and from what the skillful Mandaue native has been showing in the buildup to today?s card, his handlers, led by the well-loved father-and-son tandem of Tony and Michael Aldeguer, are upbeat about his chances.
During Friday?s official weigh-in at the Rajah Park Hotel fronting the famed Puente Osme?a, Gorres tipped the scales at the superfly limit of 115 lbs. Montiel also weighed 115 lbs, but he had to weigh himself several times in the hours leading to the weigh-in as ringsiders observed that the Mexican was having trimming excess weight.
But when the time finally came that they both had to weigh for the last time, Gorres and Montiel passed the test and struck a pose for photographers, their faces showing the expression that the fight will be contested intensely.
Gorres left the building right away, while Montiel retreated to his room, a bottle of Gatorade in hand, but soon dined at the cafeteria of the hotel lobby with his brothers and father who form his battery of trainers.
Montiel had a plateful of spaghetti with meat sauce, thick soup and a tall bottle of San Miguel Light plus a can of regular Coke before he was seen either surfing the net or sending messages to his friends back in Mexico.
Montiel, being the champion and the one who crossed the Pacific, is guaranteed a paycheck of 0,000, while Gorres, the mandatory challenger, earns a little over ,000.
Gorres sports a 26-1-1 ledger with 14 knockouts, while Montiel totes a 32-2-1 slate with 24 knockouts, including a second round demolition of Filipino Roy Doliguez over three years ago in Montiel?s hometown of Los Mochis.
Samuel Viruet of the US will be the third man on the ring for the Gorres-Montiel scuffle, while the three judges are Denny Nelson, Raul Caiz Sr. and Chuck Giampa, all from the US.
