Z Gorres vs. Luis Melendez Set For November 13
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
Z “The Dream” Gorres will face a tough test against Colombia’s relentless Luis Melendez at the Mandalay Bay House of Blues in Las Vegas on November 13.
Respected boxing patron Tony Aldeguer informed BoxingScene.com, insidesports.ph, Standard Today and Viva Sports that after some uncertainty over Gorres’ opponent he was informed Wednesday that the flashy southpaw had been matched against the Colombian toughie and he had accepted the fight because, as always, he wanted to find out whether his fighter has got it or not.
Gorres who has moved up to the bantamweight division left for Los Angeles last October 18 and is now training at the Wild Card Gym of Freddie Roach.
Apparently, Puerto Rico’s Eric Morel who was directed by WBO president Francisco “Paco” Valcarcel also of Puerto Rico to fight Gorres in an eliminator while former two-division world champion Gerry Penalosa was matched against Fernando Montiel in the other half of an eliminator series on December 19, had ignored the WBA president. Latest word is that Morel will fight Japan’s WBC champion Hozumi Hasegawa for the title in Kobe, Japan on December 18..
Gorres looked sharp in sparring last week against Fernando Otic at the ALA Gym and told us he is primed and ready to face anyone they put in front of him.
The 27 year old Gorres has a record of 30-2-2 with 17 knockouts while the 29 year old Melendez has a record of 26-3-1 with 21 knockouts and is known as a hard puncher who gave Montiel a difficult time before losing by a 12th round TKO on October 4, 2007. He is coming off a 3rd round TKO win over Rafael Salgado last September 11.
Boxing writers Albert Jimenez Howell and Chris Bronte, reporting on the Montiel-Melendez fight said the 12 round thriller was punctuated with back-and-forth action and knockdowns before Montiel finished off Melendez late in the final round.
Montiel said after the fight “I knew he was a tough opponent but he was even tougher than I thought he would be. He was like a rubber band. I would hit him and he would bounce right back.”
On the other hand Gorres who lost a hugely controversial twelve round decision to Montiel in a super flyweight title fight in Cebu in February 2007 is coming off an impressive win over talented Cruz Carbajal who was forced to retire in the sixth round after he reportedly hurt his hand in the fight held in Nayarit, Mexico.
Prior to that Gorres scored a smashing 7th round TKO over Roberto Carlos Leyva in a fight card at the Waterfront Hotel in Cebu City to win the WBO Oriental bantamweight title.
