By Mark Vester

Ringside reports of Saturday's IBF super flyweight eliminator between Vic Darchinyan (29-1-1, 23KOs) and Z Gorres (27-1-2, 15KOs), indicate a controversial twelve-round draw that appeared to be very similiar to the controversial bout which involved Ricardo Torres in 2007, where Torres in his backyard of Colombia stopped challenger Kendall Holt in the eleventh after a bout filled with rowdy fans, flying objects and an overwhelmed referee.

Darchinyan went through some similiar difficulties at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel & Casino in Cebu City of the Philippines. The bout began with a knockdown for Darchinyan in the first round, which appeared to be slip by Gorres when replayed. The crowd was upset with ref calling the slip a knockdown and began to pelt the ring with bottles water, coins and other objects.

Gorres came back in the second round to floor Darchinyan with a left hand. The former champion seemed shaken, but clearly beat the count, which again prompted some arena fans to pelt the ring with objects. The Cebu Star reports that Games and Amusement Board chairman Eric Buhain had to step in to tell the crowd to stop throwing bottles.

The fight was evenly fought for the next few rounds when a clash of heads in the sixth opened up a bad gash on Gorres. Prior to the gash, the paper notes that Gorres was knocked down in the fifth, but this time the ref ruled it a slip. In the ninth, Darchinyan connected with a heavy right, sending Gorres down for the second time in the fight, or at least the second time it actually counted on the scorecards. 

Gorres would fall to the floor on at least three other occasions in the final three rounds, with the referee ruling all of them slips. The final scores had Montol Suriyachand see it 113-112 for Gorres, Jonathan Davis saw it 114-112 for Darchinyan and Cec Perkins called it 113-113 for the draw.

Gorres would tell the paper that Darchinyan fought a dirty fight and he would fight him again anywhere and at any time.

"Darchinyan is a dirty fighter. I’m willing to fight him again in a rematch anytime and anywhere,” said Gorres. “I could have won if not for the first round knockdown.”

Darchinyan's promoter, Gary Shaw, said the referee Lance Revill should be banned from boxing for not crediting his fighter with at least three knockdown calls in the final three rounds, and instead ruling them as slips. 

“The referee should be banned from boxing,” Shaw said.

Send News Tips and Comments To Mark Vester @ boxingscene@hotmail.com