MONTIEL, VILORIA TO ARRIVE CEBU ON SATURDAY
By Dong Secuya
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 14 Feb 2007
CEBU CITY -- Mexican WBO superfly champ Fernando "Cochulito" Montiel and Colombian Latino superbantam king Feider Viloria will arrive in Cebu on Saturday, Feb. 17, via two different airlines, SGG Media Affairs announced.
Montiel will defend his world title against local boy Z "The Dream" Gorres while Viloria will take on Boholano sensation Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista in Cebu's biggest boxing extravaganza dubbed as "The Moment of Truth" which will explode on Feb. 24 at the Cebu City Sports Complex in downtown Cebu.
Fernando Montiel, who hails from a family of boxing afficionados, will be accompanied by his trainer-manager Manuel Montiel as well as three other relatives, Eduardo, Pedro and Manuel, Jr. The Montiels fly from Los Angeles to Manila with a connecting flight to Cebu. The group is expected to arrive Cebu early morning on Saturday. Roberto Duran, Jr., son of hall of famer Roberto Duran, who will be in Viloria's corner come fight night, takes on the same flight with the Montiels. Feider Viloria, together with the rest of the Viloria team, will take on the Baranquilla(Colombia)-Amsterdam-Manila route and are expected to arrive Cebu at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
The Montiel camp is expecting a very hard fight with Gorres but they predicted to win the fight. "Montiel is not coming here to give away his belt," top international promoter Sammy "Penrex King" Gello-ani observed. "He is a champion who will not go down without a fight," Gello-ani added.
But some boxing enthusiasts are not quite convinced that Montiel will be able to keep his title after the bout. His defeat to Jhonny Gonzales last year in a WBO bantamweight title fight in Carson, California and his long period of inactivity due to promotional problems could create a mental baggage that may prove too heavy to bear while taking on the rapid punches of Gorres in the ring.
Viloria, on the other hand, is considered a serious threat to Bautista’s quest for the WBO intercontinental super bantamweight crown and the WBO youth bantamweight belt. "Viloria is not coming here to lose," Gello-ani said.
Teams Montiel and Viloria will be hosted by the Rajah Park Hotel during their entire stay in Cebu. Rajah Park is located at the Fuente Osme?a Circle in the heart of the city and is a walking distance from the fight venue.
Meanwhile SGG Media Affairs said tickets for the fight are fast running out. For reservation and inquiry please call (6332) 346-3492 or 346-3489.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Dong Secuya.
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