Gorres and Bautista are Primed and Ready
By Ed de la Vega, DDS
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 25 Jan 2007
I visited the Wildcard Gym today after a long absence on account of the past holidays. Actually, I wanted to check out our two young sensations from the famed ALA Gym , Z Gorres and Rey Boom Boom Bautista who are scheduled to fight in Cebu on February 24th
I got there just in time to see Boom Boom’s sparring session for the day against two very tough and wily Latino boxers, a fellow named “Speedy Gonzales” and Vicente Escobedo. BoomBoom appeared to be in excellent form although he appears to me that he is over his fighting weight of 122lbs. When I brought my observation about BoomBoom’s weight to Edito ALA Villamor, he gave me an no non-sense, straight forward answer: - “Not to worry, DocEd, we still have a few weeks to go before the fight. As his trainer, I assure you, on the weight-in day, we will be where we should be, 122lbs. Edito’s answer was indeed refreshing and it brought to mind Bobby Pacquiao who came in over weight in Las Vegas when he fought Hector Velasquez last November. Perhaps, Bobby’s manager, Michael Koncz should take heed of what Edito Villamor is doing:- paying very close attention to his fighter’s weight.
Then it was Z Gorres’ turn to spar. First he went against a tall and lanky Eddie Leal. Then, he exchanged leathers with a kid named Mike Franco. Gorres was pure business. He took some hard shots but dished out plenty his own. From my vantage position on the ringside where I was taking pictures from, I can hear the grunts of Gorres’ sparring partners every time he lands a solid shot, which incidentally was very often. From what I saw, Fernando Montiel will be in for a good slam-bang affair when he stakes his title against Gorres. Gorres it seem is bent in getting a true legitimate championship belt for himself, the Aldeguers and of course his fans back in Cebu. “Ibibigay ko po lahat nang kakayahan ko” (“I will give it all”) he later said to me when we had a late lunch at a nearby Thai restaurant after the training session.
Speaking of lunch, it was a delight to have with us an old acquaintance from the Marcos-era, the indefatigable scribe, Hermie Rivera. Hermie is now based in Northern California and was in town to do an interview with the Golden Boy Promotions’ first VP, Eric Gomez. It was so wonderful listening to Hermie relate his stories about boxing. He sure knew a lot about the sweet science.
During my conversation with Gorres, Bautista and Villamor, over lunch, I was surprised to know that they have not heard about the announced opponent of Bautista, a fellow names Feider Luis Viloria Rodrigues, the WBC Lation Super bantamweight Champion. But the lack of knowledge of his opponent did not seem to faze Bautista. “Kahit po sino, handa ako”. Kahit po si Ponce de Leon, lalaban ako kasi tiwala ako sa kakayahan ko” (“I am ready to fight anyone, even Ponce de Leon because I have confidence on what I can do”) Buatista said to me.
Gorres (right) spars with Franco.
Gorres (right) spars with Leas.
Bautista (right) spars with Escobido.
Bautista (left) spars with Gonzales.
The soft-spoken Gorres surprisingly participated in our lively conversations. He seemed so comfortable with his situation about his up coming title fight against Montiel. “Ito po ang pangarap ko mula nang mag-boksing ako” Nagpapasalamat ako sa lahat nang naghirap para mabigyan ako nang pagkakataong ito, lalo na si Sir ALA at Sir Sammy” (This is my dream since I started in boxing and I am thankful to all who made this possible, particularly Sir ALA and Sir Sammy).
After our lunch which consisted mostly of sea food and chicken, Gorres, Bautista, and Edito bade me a warm goodbye. “Salamat po uli, Dr Ed. Salamat sa lunch. Uuwi na po kami, kasi maglalaba pa kami eh” Kita na lang tayo sa Sunday. (Thanks for lunch Dr Ed. We have to go now as we still have to do our laundry. See you on Sunday.” They were of course referring to our date on Sunday at my dental office where they will be fitted new mouth guards for their upcoming fight.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ed de la Vega, DDS.
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