GORRES IN MUST WIN FIGHT
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 30 May 2008
For all the remarkable skill and style of Z ?The Dream? Gorres and his heartbreaking split decision loss in a WBO super flyweight title fight against Mexico?s Fernando Montiel in what was clearly a terrible decision, the flashy southpaw is in a must-win situation when he battles dangerous Nick Otieno at the Waterfront Hotel in Cebu on Saturday.
The main question Gorres must answer with his performance on Saturday is whether he still has it in him to become a world champion especially after his controversial draw in an IBF super flyweight eliminator against the rugged Vic Darchinyan of Australia who appeared to intimidate Gorres by his rough tactics.
For the first half of that fight last February 2, Gorres was in command, out-boxing Darchinyan and even dropping him early in the fight. But it seemed that the moment he got hurt by a hard punch from Darchinyan and was later cut and started bleeding his whole attitude and fighting style changed. This eventually cost him the win and a crack at Dimitri Kirilov of Russia who Gorres clearly had the better of during sparring sessions at Freddie Roach?s Wild Card gym in the past.
When Viva Sports/Manila Standard Today spoke to Gorres during training some time ago, he said he had learned from his mistakes and his tendency to go on the defensive and admitted it was his mental attitude that let him down. Gorres promised it wouldn?t happen again.
He certainly can?t allow that to happen in his fight against Otieno who has only one loss in 16 fights with 4 knockouts.
Otieno who is from Kenya has been described as an orthodox boxer with ?a wealth of experience at the amateur level.? He has been the busiest boxer in the African region last year and has stepped into the ring five times in improving his record.
Otieno is known for his ?indefatigable style where he lets no opponent rest in the ring. He has often been dubbed ?pressure? for his high pressure pace over twelve rounds."
The Kenyan is the reigning Universal Boxing Organization world bantamweight champion but lost in a bid for the IBF International bantamweight title to Eduardo Garcia (17-5, 7 KO?s) of Mexico last February 23 in Russia but came back in his very next fight to score a first round knockout over Francis Miyeyusho (21-5-2, 10 KO?s) last April 5.
The flashy Gorres has a record of 27-2-2 with 15 knockouts. Prior to the Darchinyan fight he scored an impressive eighth round TKO over former world light flyweight champion Eric Ortiz on August 11 last year in the Philippines vs Mexico ?World Cup? showdown which the Filipinos won handsomely 5-1.
Gorres has a great opportunity to show he is made of sterner stuff when he takes on Otieno and reassure his many fans that he can match his exemplary skills with a resolute will and a courageous heart and move on to become a world champion in the future because at 26 years of age the time to show what he?s really got is now.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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