Gorres Stops Leyva, Melindo beats Rachman
By Rene Bonsubre, Jr.
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 15 Mar 2009
Z ?The Dream? Gorres delivered another one-sided masterpiece and won the vacant WBO Oriental Bantamweight title with a 7th round TKO win over Mexican Roberto ?Mako? Leyva.
The southpaw Gorres landed with his right jab and hooks and effectively parried and slipped Leyva?s counters. The Mexican tried to mount an offensive but Gorres showed excellent lateral movement and landed solid one-two combinations to the head and body. At the end of the fourth round, a furious barrage by Gorres had his opponent reeling on the ropes. He gave Leyva a mean stare at the end of the round.
The lop-sided hammering continued until referee Bruce McTavish stopped the fight at 1:29 seconds of the 7th.
Milan Melindo and Muhammad Rachman battled for ten exciting rounds that showcased the best that both fighters had to offer. Melindo pressed in the early rounds and landed effective combinations to the body and head. Rachman was able to take his punches and in the third round both boxers took turns leading and countering.
Rachman showed his ring smarts and guile in close quarter combat while Melindo was able to show his speed and combination punching when fighting at a distance. It was a bruising tactical battle. Both fighters refused to wilt under pressure. In the later rounds the 21 year old Melindo continued to land effective blows and managed to outlast the 37 year old former IBF world titlist. The bout ended with an exciting exchange of power shots at center ring. They hugged and carried each other as a sign of mutual respect.
The scores: 97-93, 98-92,96-94 all for Melindo.
Michael Domingo won by unanimous decision over Monico Laurente. Domingo was the more aggressive fighter. Laurente could not use his height and reach advantage effectively to keep Domingo at bay. The scores: 98-92, 99-91 and 97-93.
James Bacon scored a revenge 8 round win over William Jorge. Bacon suffered a cut in round one but attacked like a wounded tiger and knocked Jorge down. The bleeding was stopped by his cornermen and in the second Bacon launched a vicious attack that had Jorge hanging on to Bacon?s left leg to prevent another knockdown.
Their history of bad blood surfaced as both fighters took turns taunting each other, landing low blows, holding and hitting and using shoulders as weapons. But Bacon managed to land the more powerful blows till the end of the bout. The scorecards read : 78-73 on all three judges for Bacon.
Mohawk haired Joseph von Minoza won by majority decision over Rufino Mante. The scores: 58-56, 59-55, 57-57.
Marjohn Makahilig won by TKO over Marlon Ariesga. Makahilig scored a knockdown in the 1st and Ariesga chose not to answer the bell for the second round.
Ricardo Campana and Jherpol Valero ought to a majority draw. The scores: 38-38,38-38,37-39.
In the evening?s first bout, Jomar Cordinillo won by majority decision over Ricky Nunez. The scorecards read: 38-38, 39-37, 39-37.
Top photo: Referee Bruce McTavish intently watches the proceedings (L) as Z Gorres (C) takes the offensive against Roberto Carlos Leyva during last night's boxing event at the Waterfront Hotel in Cebu City. Photo by King Catriz.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Rene Bonsubre, Jr..
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