THE BIGGEST fight of his life is over ? the silent struggle for consciousness and life in an intensive care unit only minutes after a dazzling performance in the ring ? and Z Gorres still has to come out on top.

?I wanted to cry the first time I saw him lying on the hospital bed. He shouldn?t look like that,? said Buboy Fernandez, a close friend of Gorres and one of the first to visit him at the medical center where he was rushed unconscious after a stunning victory in Las Vegas in November last year.

Fernandez, an assistant trainer in the Manny Pacquiao team had braced himself against the chill of an early Las Vegas evening and leaned on the glass wall of a convenience store as he recounted the scene. Gorres looked okay, he said, but every trace of exuberance had been drained from the boxer who was once riding a wave to the top of the sport.

?But at least, he?s starting to get okay. It?s just sad because for sure, he?ll never get to fight again,? Fernandez added.

Gorres put together one of the finest performances of his life on Nov. 13, 2009 at the Mandalay Bay?s House of Blues, when he faced off against Luis Melendez of Colombia in a fight card organized by Top Rank as an aperitif to the historical bout between Pacquiao and Puerto Rican star Miguel Cotto.

Gorres, flaunting tactical boxing skills, dominated Melendez throughout the bout and was cruising to what would have been a defining points victory when the indefatigable Colombian started looking for a knockout in the 12th round.

The Filipino boxer fended off the relentless last-ditch effort but was caught with a vicious left to the head that sent him to the canvas. Gorres did survive the drop to hammer out a points victory, but something was obviously wrong as his knees started buckling during the announcement of the fight?s winner.

And in a flash, the Cebuano fighter crumpled to the floor.

He was immediately rushed to the University Medical Center in Las Vegas, where he lapsed into a coma. Doctors needed to cut open a huge portion of his skull to help ease the swelling of the brain in an effort to save his life.

Doctor Allan Recto, a close friend of Pacquiao and a noted boxing physician, said that luck was still on Gorres? side. ?If he were an ordinary person, chances of survival would have been slim. But he?s an exceptional athlete.?

And even when sapped of consciousness, Gorres showed what a fighter he was, Recto added. In a show of resiliency, Gorres battled along with the medical staff that worked to save his life, and showed amazing signs of recovery.

Edito Villamor, a boxing trainer and friend of Gorres, admitted that at first he wasn?t optimistic, especially when informed of the Glasgow Coma Scale results that gave the fighter a ?poor prognosis.?

?He was unresponsive,? Villamor recalled of the first time he saw ?The Dream? at the hospital. But he has since had more positive news to report as he witnessed Gorres struggle back to normalcy in a span of only two months.

?His memory wasn?t affected,? Villamor told Philboxing.com. ?He has been able to identify familiar faces who have been visiting him. His wife, Datches, was worried that Z wouldn?t be able to recognize her, but he immediately did.?

Gorres has been discharged from the hospital and will live with a staff member of one of the doctors who treated him before flying back to the country on February 4. Until then, he will have to undergo rehabilitation so he can function normally again.

?The doctors assured me he will be functional again after rehab,? Villamor said.

Gorres can already write, although some of his body parts remain weak. But people close to him are just happy to know that he is okay.

After all the fights and victories tucked under his belt, Z Gorres can look back and smile at the greatest triumph he has fashioned out, one that will allow him several more precious moments with his family and friends. ?