Z Gorres, Tuñacao triumph

IBF Intercontinental super flyweight champion Z “The Dream” Gorres and the comebacking former WBC flyweight titlist Malcolm “Eagle Eye” Tuñacao pulled off contrasting wins over African foes in the “One More Time” card the other night at the Pacific grand ballroom of Waterfront-Cebu City Hotel.

Gorres bolstered his bid of another world title shot after pounding out a 10-round shutout of UBO bantamweight crown-holder Nick Otieno, while Tuñacao returned from a 16-month layoff with a first-round stoppage of Tanzanian national champion Rashi Ally.

From the outset, Gorres landed several solid hits, but just don’t have enough firepower to send Otieno crashing on the canvass. Nevertheless, all the three judges scored 100-90 for Gorres, who bettered his record to 28-2-2 (15KOs).

Gorres, thus, brightened up his chances of challenging the winner of the August 2 IBF jr bantamweight title bout between defending champion Dimitri Kirilov of Russia and Vic Darchinyan of Australia before the year ends.

Tuñacao, on the other hand, announced that he’s definitely back with his easy disposition of Ally. He now holds a 22-2-3 record spiked with 15KOs.

Tuñacao landed a solid big left to the chest of Ally, forcing the visiting Tanzanian fighter to turn his back complaining of an injury. After being thoroughly checked by ringside physician, referee Ben Necessario stopped the bout as Ally was unfit to continue fighting.

The night’s biggest triumph, however, was delivered by Jason Pagara, who made an impressive debut under the wings of ALA Stable with a TKO of Indonesian Heri Andriyanto before the start of the third round to snatch the WBO Youth lightweight crown.

At 16-year-old, Pagara etched his name in stone as the youngest WBO regional titlist ever. The presence of Misamis Oriental Governor Oscar Moreno was without doubt had contributed to the sterling win of the promising Cagayan de Oro City fighter.

The rest of the results saw Jether Oliva of General Santos beating Jason Rotoni of Elorde Gym by unanimous decision, Jun Intor and Ali Belonquel fighting to a majority draw, Juan Miguel Elorde prevailed over Racem Laud by unanimous verdict, Romeo Jakosalem stopping Elmer Colve in round five, and Jerson Mancio clobbering Japanese Ratazu Matzui on the way to a one-sided unanimous decision victory.