Bad luck night for Filipinos

Putting the victor in line for a shot at recently-crowned IBF Super Flyweight Champion Simphiwe Nongqayi, Mexico's Alberto Rosas worked his way to a unanimous decision over awkward Federico Catubay, of the Philippines, last night at the House of Blues inside of the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

The card, promoted by Top Rank and televised on TV Azteca, provided a long night of closely matched fights on the eve of Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto.

Catubay had the Filipino fans rallying behind him early as his style – which was eerily reminiscent of a poor man’s Vic Darchinian - kept Rosas off balance early on. Rather than being thrown off by the awkwardness, Rosas (31-6) would stick to his game plan and continuedto work effectively on the inside while dissecting Catubay (25-16-3) with his punches.

By the fourth round, Rosas looked comfortable while Catubay’s unorthodox methods no longer mesmerized his Mexican opponent.

The ugly brawl found both fighters throwing punches throughout the duration of the fight, but nothing would put the other fighter in any serious trouble. Catubay would find his mark with an uppercut and sweeping hooks thrown from his waistline while Rosas would keep things dirty inside with hooks to the body and head.

It wasn’t the most crowd pleasing bout, but it was effective enough for Rosas to pound out a decision on the scorecards. Two judges scored the bout 117-111 and the third saw it 116-112.


Rosales upsets Melligen

The ten round co-main event saw Michael Rosales put together a workmanlike effort to win an upset split decision victory over Mark Melligen in a battle of welterweights.

From the outset it appeared that Melligen was the sharper puncher but Rosales continued to press forward and apply pressure on the Filipino fighter to rack up the rounds on the judges’ scorecards. Strangely enough, one judge managed to give Melligen rounds where he was constantly on his bicycle and seeking to counterpunch. Although effective, Melligen was not consistent enough in his approach as Rosales managed to keep plodding forward and put in enough work to pile up points.

The Filipino fighter did keep Rosales busy as he often shot his straight left hand into Rosales’ face. But the mixture of fighting backwards and being outworked ended up giving Rosales the victory. Two judges scored the fight 96-94 while judge Burt Clements somehow managed to see it Melligen’s way with a 98-92 scorecard.

Rosales improves to 24-3 while Melligen sees his ten fight win streak halted as he goes to 16-2.


Gorres wins, collapses in ring

In ten round bantamweight action, Z Gorres survived a late knockdown scare to hold on to a unanimous decision victory over Luis Melendez.

Gorres was clearly the faster and sharper puncher from the outset as he repeatedly stuck his jab in Melendez’ face.

The third round saw Gorres rock Melendez with a left hand before sending him to the canvas with a chopping short right.

With the fight completely under control, Melendez unleashed a hellacious left hand that dropped Gorres like a sack of potatoes to the canvas – his head bouncing off the bottom rope – in the tenth round.

Gorres managed to get to his feet but was clearly hurt. He survived the final half minute and was victorious with scores of 98-90 twice and 97-91.

Afterwards, Gorres was on shaky legs as he walked to his corner. Moments later he collapsed to the canvas. He was wheeled to the back on a stretcher and was breathing but the moment was no less scary for the fans and media watching. He was taken to University Medical Center’s trauma unit afterwards where he underwent surgery to relieve pressure on his brain.

He is currently in an induced coma where he is expected to remain for several days.


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