CLAIMS GORRES “GOT SHORTED” LACK MERIT
San Mateo, CA- Last Saturday, Z “The Dream” Gorres stepped onto the world class stage and proved he “belonged” with reigning and defending WBO champion, Fernando Montiel. That is until the bell rang for the 10th round. In that round, Montiel landed a right hand that stunned the young challenger. I call him young not only because of his age, 24, but because he immediately tried to hold on Montiel, who was quick enough to dance around the ring so the referee, Samuel Viruet could not properly separate the two fighters. Ultimately, Viruet deducted one point for excessive holding, after Gorres was clearly hurt.
PENALTIES SANS WARNINGS RAISED EYEBROWS
Usually before points are taken away from a fighter, warnings are given, like for low blow, head butts, and even holding. Case in point, last August referee Jay Nady gave multiple warning to Oleg Maskaev for holding on to Hasim Rahman during the first half of the fight. At one point, Nady explicitly said, “You hold one more time and I’m taking a point!” Maskaev never held after and ended up winning the fight. However, in that case, the holding was not in desperation because Rahman never hurt Maskaev. An example of points taken away that were similar to Gorres are the infamous “Diego Corrales” rule, where referee deducts a point for a fighter who spits out his mouthpiece in order to take a break. Even in those cases, referees still give at least one warning.
SECOND POINT DEDUCTION WAS JUSTIFIED
In the 12th round, Montiel once again staggered Gorres, who once again attempted to hold on to Montiel so he does not get hit again. And once again the smart veteran move his feet and avoided the holding, prompting referee Viruet to take another point away. In these cases, it is still common, even after initially taking a point away, to once again give a fighter a warning before taking another point. However, Gorres should have known the referee had a quick trigger and it should not have surprised anyone that Viruet took another point for excessive holding.
CAN’T WIN LOSING THE LAST THREE ROUNDS
Watching the fight live, without commercial interruptions, Gorres’ corner, at the end of the 9th round, told their fighter that if he makes it past the 12th, he has won. Basically, the corner told Gorres he had the fight in the bag. And up to that point, it seemed as if Gorres was well on his way to victory. In my scorecard, Gorres had already won six of the first nine rounds and only needed one more round to win the fight. However, that is what separates champions from challengers. In the championship rounds, Gorres faded and looked as if his legs were gone. The champion, Montiel, press the action, landing harder punches and forcing Gorres to retreat.
CALL THAT A ROOKIE MISTAKE?
Gorres found himself in a similar situation as another young Filipino prospect, Rodel Mayol. The young undefeated power puncher was up on points late in the fight only to fade and eventually get knocked down (mostly due to exhaustion) and lost the fight on points. Z could have bested a tough champion had he not made the crucial error of allowing the referee to interject himself into the final scoring. Without the two point deductions, Gorres would have walked away with a draw, which means Montiel would still be champion. However, boxing fans should not solely focus on the obvious point deductions but the fact that Gorres clearly lost the last three rounds (though round 11 was more competitive) and if that he stuck with his gameplan, which was excellent defense and great counters, instead of trying to survive and coast his way to victory, he would have won the fight. But Gorres is still capable of winning a world title; it is just too bad Freddie Roach was not there to guide the rookie through the last three rounds.
”THE PINOY” ASKS FANS THIS QUESTION
Over the weekend in Denmark, Robert Guerrero went from former IBF champion to current titleholder with a thrashing of Said Anazi. He like Z is trained by Freddie Roach. But Freddie is on tour with Oscar De La Hoya and wasn’t with Robert. A few years ago, Roach up and left Brian Viloria on the eve of a televised event, this to be with Mike Tyson, who like Oscar paid him big bucks. Is it worth having a trainer that is spread so thin, that he leaves his fighters to go it alone because he’s getting paid big bucks? Is a part-time trainer, even one of Roach’s staure right when he’s not there when you fight for the gold?
