Filipino challenger Z "The Dream" Gorres fell prey to a controversial split decision Saturday night, losing his bid to gain the WBO super flyweight crown from Mexican champion Fernando "Cholulito" Montiel in Cebu City.

Gorres dominated the first eight rounds of the fight, before Montiel showed his pedigree in the final four rounds to snatch the victory to the horror of close to 30,000 fans at the Cebu City Sports Complex.

The decision was met by protests from the Gorres camp, which expressed dismay over the two-point deductions slapped by referee Sammy Viruet of New York on the Cebuano fighter in the 10th and 12th rounds.

"The referee won it for Montiel," Gorres' manager Antonio Aledguer, a Bacolod City native, said in the website www.philboxing.com.

The two point deductions on Gorres proved crucial as judges Raul Caiz scored it 115-111 for Montiel, while Chuck Giampa and Danny Nelson registered 114-112 and 115-111, respectively for Gorres.

Earlier, rising stars Rey "Boom-Boom" Bautista and Jimrex 'The Executioner' Jaca scored knockout victories in the event dubbed, "Moment of Truth".

Jaca of Sibulan, Negros Oriental, stopped Indonesian Simson Butar-Butar to claim the WBO Asia-Pacific superfeatherweight crown on a seventh-round knockout.

Butar-Butar refused to get up following several body shots by Jaca, who was declared the winner with 1:02 left in seventh round.

Undefeated Boholano Rey 'Boom Boom' Bautista continued his undefeated streak, stopping Mexican Marino Gonzalez in the third round of their scheduled 12-rounder in Cebu City last a few minutes.

Bautista's powerful left to the midsection in the third round sent Gonzalez down on his knees for good as referee Bruce McTavish waived off the fight after completing the count. Bautista had also knocked Gonzalez down in the first round.

The victory improved Bautista's record to 22 wins with 17 KO's. He will face Argentina's Sergio Mediana on May 5 in a 12-round WBO superbantam title eliminator.

Meanwhile, Alex John Banal continued his impressive run, making short work of Thai visitor Komrit Lukkuongmuekol. Banal (12-0-1 10 KOs) finished off Komrit (15-3-0 11 KOs) in 2:11 of the first round, relying on his left hand that caused all sorts of problems for the Thai.*CPT

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