By Ronnie Nathanielsz
Riding the crest of the tremendous popularity of Filipino ring idol and national treasure Manny Pacquiao following his electrifying ninth round mauling of Erik "El Terrible" Morales, WBO No. 4 and OPBF No.1 rated Z "The Dream" Gorres and WBO Asia Pacific junior lightweight champion Czar Amonsot have proved to be a hit in Las Vegas.
The two ALA boys from the famed stable of respected boxing patron Tony Aldeguer scored rousing victories in Friday Nite Fights at the Orleans Hotel & Casino with Gorres dominating Mexican Jose Antonio Tirado in the main event over ten rounds while Amonsot scored an eight round decision over a bloodied Christian Favela.
Trainer Anthony Martin who operates a gym in Las Vegas and worked the corner of both ALA fighters along with Freddie Roach and Filipino trainer Edito "Ala" Villamor said that after the show "the crowd swarmed over Gorres and Amonsot stating they were the best fights they had seen in a long time." Martin said the fans were very impressed with the two young fighters and "want to see them perform again" confident it would be another sell-out.
Martin said "no words can describe the show that Gorres put on. He made his opponent look like a complete novice and Tirado was one dirty fighter, holding and hitting for which he was warned several times. " Martin said the crowd , both Americans and Filipinos were one hundred percent behind Gorres and kept chanting "Gorres, Gorres, Gorres." The trainer said Gorres was "fantastic."
Martin said Amonsot was involved in a " bloody fight created by a couple of head-butts" by Favela. He described the fight as " very good and hard" and added that the fans "loved Czar" although he repeated Roach’s warning that Amonsot needs to correct his tendency to throw low blows.
Gorres and Amonsot as well as well-known promoter/manager Sammy Gello-ani will arrive early Tuesday in Manila. They will proceed to Cebu where a press conference will be held to announce details of the March 18 OPBF title fight between mandatory challenger Gorres and former champion Waenpetch Chuwatana.
The Gorres and Amonsot fights in Las Vegas will be telecast on the top-rated weekly boxing show "The Main Event" on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. over RPN 9 sponsored by Tanduay, the No.1 Rhum.
