Saturday, March 01, 2008 The Dream, Bazooka in crucial fights
TWO of the famed ALA gym’s top super flyweight boxers, Z “The Dream” Gorres and AJ “Bazooka” Banal will be facing crucial bouts in different occasions.
Banal (16-0-1, 13 KO’s) will be having an IBF title eliminator against undefeated Uruguayan Caril “El Raton” Herrera (21-0, 13 KO’s) on April 6 in Manila while Gorres (27-2-2, 15 KO’s) will be defending his International Boxing Federation Intercontinental super flyweight title against Tanzanian Francis Miyeyusho (20-5-2, 9 KO’s) on May 3 in Mandaue City.
The winner of the Banal (No.7) and Herrera (No.10) bout will be the No.1 contender for the IBF super flyweight, which is currently vacant.
If Banal wins the IBF title eliminator and becomes the No.1 contender, then ALA Promotions will have an agreement with Sampson Leckowicz and Golden Boy vice president Eric Gomez that they will not let him jump into a championship bout immediately. The most important thing for Banal’s handler is for him to be in the top spot.
“We will not yet let Banal fight a championship right away if ever he wins the title eliminator but maybe a year from now. The most important thing for him is to be the No.1 contender,” said Michael Aldeguer, president of ALA Promotions, to Sun.Star Cebu in an interview yesterday.
“We will let him fight at least two more well known boxers and then we’ll see what will happen. A lot will be told come April 6,” he added.
For Gorres it will be a do-or-die situation in his first mandatory title defense against Miyeyusho because if he loses, he will be deprived of a shot at the IBF super flyweight title at the hands of either Dmitri Kirilov or Vic “Raging Bull” Darchinyan, who are slated to face each other.
“May 3 will be an important fight for Gorres. He can’t afford to lose,” said Aldeguer.
Meanwhile, the cut that Darchinyan gave Gorres in their IBF title eliminator in Cebu City last Feb. 2, which ended in a controversial draw, has now fully healed according to his handler Aldeguer.
The 25-year-old has already started with light training and will be in full training today. EKA
