Fernando Montiel will defend his WBO bantamweight title against Z Gorres, and Eric Morel will take on Gerry Penalos on Feb. 13 at the Las Vegas Hilton, promoter Bob Arum told FanHouse on Friday."After that, the winners will fight the winners in June," Arum said of the clash of 118-pounders. "It's like a tournament."
Since losing a split decision to Jhonny Gonzalez in May of 2006, the 30-year-old Montiel (39-2-2, 29 knockouts) is 7-0-1 with four knockouts, including a split decision victory over Gorres in February 2007.
Before his rematch with Montiel, the 27-year-old Gorres (30-2-2. 17 KOs) has a December 13 date with Colombia's Luis Melendez (26-3-1, 21 KOs) -- whom Montiel stopped in the 12th round of their bout in October 2007.
The Gorres-Melendez matchup will take place at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas.
The 34-year-old Morel (41-2, 21 KOs) has won six straight, three of them by knockout, since losing a 12-round unanimous decision in March 2005 to Martin Castillo, whom Montiel stopped in four rounds nearly three years later in February 2008.
The 37-year-old Penalosa (54-7-2, 36 KOs) is coming off April's 10-round knockout loss to Juan Manuel Lopez in a WBO super bantamweight (122) title bout.
Penalosa had won three straight prior to the loss to Lopez, including a seventh-round stoppage of Jhonny Gonzalez in August 2007.
