The Philippine Online Chronicles

Z Gorres, the Filipino boxer who went into a medically-induced coma after suffering from brain trauma at the end of a Las Vegas bout, has improved after an emergency brain surgery.

"Z's progress has continued to be very good. The brain pressure has remained stable. Monitoring was not needed anymore," ALA Boxing Gym chairman Antonio Aldeguer told sunstar.com.ph. Aldeguer is said to have "nurtured Gorres' boxing career since Gorres was nine years old."

GMA 7's Unang Balita said yesterday that Gorres' doctors at the University Medical Center (UMC) in Las Vegas had upped his chances of survival from 20 percent to 50 percent. His UMC doctor pegged him to remain comatose for possibly three to five days. He suffered a subdural hematoma, a blood clot in the brain, after being knocked down in Round 10, abs-cbnNEWS.com reported.

Aldeguer has asked fans to pray for the boxer's recovery. "Gorres is a very good family man with a loving wife and four children. He is a very kind and gentle person. A rare human being. Please ask the Lord not to take him yet. We need your prayers for him," Aldeguer told philboxing.com in a text message.

Gorres, nicknamed "The Dream" by fans, was induced into a coma by doctors after his brain was drained of fluid to relieve pressure, a Cebu Daily News report in inquirer.net noted.

"This is horrible news heard he passed out after the decision and then went into a coma afterwards. Hope he makes it my prayers are with him and his family," said kidbazooka1 in a fighthype.com community forum.

"I think this is the end of [his boxing career]. But he still can be gainfully and rewardingly employed though by training to become a boxing trainor," ooba99 wrote in a tsikot.yehey.com thread.

Mandaue City Vice Mayor Carlo Fortuna has said the city government is willing to extend assistance to Gorres, whom it awarded in 2007 for "exemplary performance as a Mandauehanon," according to a separate Cebu Daily News story in inquirer.net.

Gorres was "the only Filipino fighter to win his bout" at the Mandalay Bay's House of Blues in Las Vegas on November 14, inquirer.net said. He defeated Colombian Luis Melendez in a 10-round decision. His fight with Melendez was organized by Top Rank as a prelude to the match between Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto.

Gorres' net pay from the match was expected to be US$13,500, a "measly" amount, said tsikot.yehey.com forum poster chua_riwap.