Bautista, Gorres' US fights confirmed

It's green and go for the forthcoming United States fight of ALA Boxing Gym stars Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and Z "The Dream" Gorres, most probably against Mexican opponents.

"It's confirmed. We've just signed the contract this morning (yesterday) for Bautista and Gorres to fight in the US this May," said ALA top honcho Antonio "Bidoy" L. Aldeguer.

But contrary to earlier reports, Bautista and Gorres will see action on different fight dates.

Bautista, the reigning WBO Asia Pacific bantamweight champion, will see action in the undercard of Marco Antonio Barrera's WBC super featherweight title defense against Rocky Juarez on May 20 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

Gorres, on the other hand, will show his stuff underneath the WBO bantamweight title defense of Jhonny Gonzalez against Fernando Montiel on May 27 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In what could be a major breakthrough in his career, Bautista's coming US ring appearance, his fourth overall, has been included in the pay-per-view, meaning the bout of the pride of Candijay, Bohol will be broadcast live all over the world.

For Gorres, a world title fight is in the offing as Aldeguer said that if Montiel succeeds in dethroning Gonzalez, the flashy Mandaue City warrior, presently ranked No.2 115-punder by the WBO, is likely to challenge top contender Martin Power of England for the vacant WBO super flyweight crown.

Meanwhile, Bautista leapfrogged from No.11 to No.7 among bantamweight contenders in the latest rankings released by the World Boxing Council (WBC).

Bautista's climbing up the WBC ladder is hugely contributed to his sensational triumph over Gerardo Espinoza on Christmas eve last year at the Sycuan Resort and Casino in El Cajun, California.

In that eventful fight, the top-ranked WBO 118-pounder Bautista survived a second round scare en route to a stirring unanimous decision win over the durable Mexican. That stretched the Candijay, Bohol fighter's unbeaten record to 19-0, with 14 wins by knockout.

Prior to that, Bautista needed just five minutes to knock out South African Obote Ameme to retain for the second time his WBO Asia Pacific bantamweight title in the historic "Binakbakay sa Tagbilaran" card witnessed a crowd of 25,000-plus on November 17, 2005 at the CPG Sports Complex in Tagbilaran City.

Bautista's countryman, reigning OPBF 118-pound titlist Malcolm Tuñacao, is three notches ahead of the Boholano warrior at No.4.

The 19-year-old Bautista, ballyhoed as the brightest heir to Manny Pacquiao's throne, was just signed up by the United States-based outfit Golden Boy Promotions of five-time world champion Oscar de la Hoya to a promotional contract.

Bautista will see action for the first time under the wings of Golden Boy Promotions on May 20 in the undercard of Marco Antonio Barrera's WBC super featherweight title defense against Rocky Juarez at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Interestingly, Cebuano Randy "Kumong Bato" Suico swiftly barged into the top 10 among the WBC lightweights.

Suico has just relinquished his OPBF super featherweight crown to campaign in the lightweight category.

Meanwhile, Diosdado "Prince" Gabi tailspun from No.4 to No.18 in the WBC flyweight division due to his eight round TKO loss to Australia-based Armenian Vic Darchinyan in their 12-round bout for the WBC 112-pound championship last month in California.