Aldeguer breaks silence, slams WBO

Breaking his silence a week after Z Gorres lost a controversial 12-round split decision to Fernando Montiel in a WBO superflyweight title fight in Cebu, ALA Boxing Gym owner Tony Aldeguer yesterday described the Mexican’s win as "a robbery in our own home" and took the Puerto Rico-based governing body to task for not assigning an Asian official for the fight.

"I’m not a hypocrite," said Aldeguer who was in Manila last night to be inducted into the De La Salle Sports Hall of Fame. "I felt Gorres won the fight. You know me, I don’t sourgrape. I’m just wondering why the WBO assigned mostly Hispanic officials for the fight. Are Asians only good for Asian title fights?"

Aldeguer said several sacrifices were made to host the WBO championship bout.

"First, Gorres gave up his OPBF title, something (OPBF president) Frank (Quill) was sad about," said Aldeguer. "Second, he was struck out of the IBF ratings as the leading contender. The IBF explained it was because we decided to go for the WBO title instead. Finally, we invested a big amount for the fight and barely broke even."

It was estimated that Aldeguer spent at least P20 Million to stage the Cebu card.

Aldeguer took exception to WBO president Francisco Valcarcel appointing Sammy Viruet, a New Yorker of Puerto Rican descent, as referee and Raul Caiz, Sr., Chuck Giampa and Denny Nelson as the three judges without assigning a single Asian.

Viruet appeared to overstep his authority by deducting two points from Gorres for holding, without prior warning. The fight would’ve ended in a split draw without the deductions.

Caiz gave seven rounds to Montiel and five to Gorres for 115-111. Giampa split the rounds even but tallied 114-112 for Montiel with the two deductions. Nelson scored it 115-111 for Gorres despite the deductions. All three judges saw Gorres winning rounds 1, 2, 8 and 9 while they concurred only in rounds 3 and 10 for Montiel.

Caiz scored rounds 5, 6 and 7 for the Mexican when it seemed that Gorres dominated the action. Viruet’s deductions awarded Montiel 10-8 cushions in rounds 10 and 12 in Caiz’ and Giampa’s scorecards. Aldeguer said he’s giving Gorres one more week off before reporting back to the gym. "Our policy is usually a one-week rest after a fight," said Aldeguer. "He deserves the extra rest. Boom Boom (Bautista) and A. J. (Banal) will be back in the gym tomorrow."

Bautista and Banal scored knockouts in the same Cebu card last week. They will leave in two or three weeks to join trainer Freddie Roach in Oscar de la Hoya’s camp in Puerto Rico. The fighters are seeing action in the undercard of de la Hoya’s duel with Floyd Mayweather in Las Vegas on May 5.