EDITORIAL - Shattered dream

Cebuano boxer Z Gorres remains in a medically induced coma after he collapsed following a win against Colombian Luiz Melendez in Las Vegas on Saturday. He, however, showed signs of recovery, giving an attending nurse a “thumbs up” a day after a surgery on his seriously injured brain.

Saturday night, Gorres was well on his way to winning an important fight against Melendez in a 10-round main event at House of Blues at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. A win would propel him to the top of the list of contenders for bantamweight division.

As he completely dominated Melendez from the first round, he seemed comfortable to finish the fight with a unanimous decision. But a hard punch to the jaw in the last round knocked him down. He went up to finish the round, only to collapse after being declared the winner.

Gorres is just the latest casualty of the brutality of the sport of pugilism. Some victims would not even last a day after being rendered unconscious by a fatal punch.

The 27-year-old nicknamed “The Dream” was still lucky to recover. But granting he fully recovers, he will never be the same again. He could never take on a competitive fight again.

Gorres has been hoping to make it big in the rich business of prizefighting. Unfortunately, the sport of boxing revolves around brutality and violence. A single punch to the head from Melendez has turned his dream of becoming the next Filipino world champion into a nightmare.   

“The Dream” has been one of the promising Filipino boxers today. But what makes him special is that he evolved into one of the finest technical fighters in the business.

It seemed, however, he was not born to become a world champion. He failed in his first championship bid at the Cebu Coliseum two years ago and continued to struggle to create a name in boxing.

But with one punch to the head, Gorres’ dream comes to an end under the glittering lights of Las Vegas during that fateful Saturday night, another victim of boxing’s viciousness.