Montiel Threatens Not to Fight Gorres on February 24 But Gello-ani Says Not to Worry
By Dong Secuya
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 02 Feb 2007
WBO superfly champion Fernando "Kochulito" Montiel of Mexico has threatened not show up on February 24 for his date with challenger Z "The Dream" Gorres in Cebu but Sammy Gello-ani, the promoter of the February 24 event, said that there is nothing to worrry about and the event will push thru as scheduled even if Montiel would not come.
Montiel, in an interview with David Kaufman of BoxNoticias.com, has said that he had signed a contract for a March 4 fight date with Gorres and will only fight Gorres on that date and not on February 24. "I am not going to fight on February 24 in the Philippines as announced by Eric Gomez on Tuesday. I signed a contract to defend the title on March 4 and I am not going to reverse gear... I do not know what they want me to do, but that is my position," a furious Montiel told Kaufman.
Gello-ani, after being informed of the Montiel interview, said that Montiel has no choice but to fight on February 24 otherwise he will be stripped of his title and Gorres will end up fighting the number 2 WBO contender Pramuansak Phosawan of Thailand on February 24 for the vacant WBO title.
Gello-ani explained that the Montiel-Gorres fight was originally set February 24 to comply with the 90-day period wherein the fight has to happen as set by the terms of the WBO purse bidding. The bidding was done last Nov. 27, 2006 and the 90-day provision expires on Feb. 25, 2007. However the date was moved first to March 17, 2007 and then to March 4, 2007 because of the planned WBO World Cup that has to happen in the Philippines wherein the Montiel-Gorres fight will become one of the three title fights at stake. "The Gorres-Montiel fight date was moved and the 90-day period was extended because of the WorLd Cup," Gello-ani said. "However, the date extension was explicitly approved by the WBO only if the fight will be included in the World Cup. With the World Cup being postponed to a later date, the Gorres-Montiel fight naturally reverts back to its original date," Gello-ani said.
Gello-ani commented that there is an ongoing shakeup in the Montiel camp which may have caused some information to be not properly relayed to Fernando Montiel himself. Gello-ani said he learned yesterday that Gary Gittelshon is no longer acting as the manager of Montiel. "Whatever, we are prepared for everything. If Montiel will not come, the number two contender is ready to fight with Gorres for the title," Gello-ani concluded.
Meanwhile, the February 24 fight card to be held at the Cebu City Sports Complex in Cebu has been finalized with three title fights at stake: Gorres will take on Montiel (or Phosawan) for the WBO Super Flyweight Title; Bautista tangles with Feider Vilora of Columbia for the vacant WBO Inter-Continental Super Bantamweight Title and vacant WBO Youth Super Bantamwweight Title; and Jimrex Jaca battles Simson Butar Butar of Indonesia for the WBO Asia Pacific Super Featherweight Title. Tickets will go on sale starting next week.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Dong Secuya.
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