PEÑALOSA ACCEPTS DE LEON’S CHALLENGE!

30 January, 2007 by Reylan Loberternos


BATTLE OF THE “AGES”!

Tagbilaran City, RP – Former world super flyweight champion Gerry Peñalosa (51-5-2, 34 KOs) of the Philippines, who turns 35 in august of this year, has accepted the offer to challenge the reigning and defending 26-year-old WBO super bantamweight champ Daniel Ponce De Leon (30-1-0, 28 KOs) of Mexico.

EXPERTS SAY THIS IS “DUMB” FOR GERRY

After watching Jorge Arce have an unfair size advantage over Jorge Ler on Saturday night, this discrepancy might pale when comparing Penalos and De Leon. If it happens, it would be youth versus experience in what many boxing pundits consider as a major mismatch both in terms of size and strength in favor of the hard-hitting De Leon.It would be youth versus experience in what many boxing pundits consider as a major mismatch both in terms of size and strength in favor of the hard-hitting De Leon. Peñalosa is however fearless and confident that his vast counterpunching and slick approach is going to beat De Leon’s unorthodox style. This tussle is going to be the chief supporting bout of the Marco Antonio Barrera - Juan Manuel Marquez showdown at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 17th.

DE LEON IS TAILOR-MADE FOR PEÑALOSA

Styles make fights. This old cliché, apart maybe from his advancing age, seems to be the driving force that compelled Peñalosa to take this bout in spite of the salient odds that are against him. It may be noted that the Pinoy pug’s four losses were against “runners”, twice against Korean In Joo Choo (18-2-0, 7 KOs) who then sported an unblemished slate before bowing down to the other Peñalosa tormentor Japan-based World super flyweight champion Masamori Tokuyama of Korea (32-3-1, 8 KOs) who also battled it out twice with the Filipino, all in controversial fashions. Peñalosa expressed optimism that his style is going to beat De Leon’s style, although the latter is considerably bigger and stronger. He also said that he is not worried about the huge size disparity because he has sparred much bigger guys in the gym.

KING PENALOSA HASN’T BEEN STOPPED!

The fact that Penalosa hasn’t been stopped in all his fifty-eight career bouts should serve as a major motivation for the Mexican knockout artist going into this encounter. Penalosa may be relatively small, but he’s definitely one tough customer inside the squared circle. It certainly shouldn’t be a walk in the park for De Leon.

BECAUSE FREDDIE ROACH SAYS SO!

Peñalosa, after learning about Golden Boy Promotions’ offer, sought the opinion of his former managers Rudy Salud and Antonio Aldeguer regarding this issue. They both advised him not to take this fight because Ponce is too big. Gerry expressed his admiration for their honesty and genuine concern for him, but would respectfully go against their will by taking this gamble instead because he is not getting any younger. Celebrated trainer Freddie Roach of Wild Card gym, who now acts as both manager and trainer of Peñalosa, on the other hand, is convinced that his ward will beat de Leon.

IT COULD HAVE BEEN JHONNY!

The Filipino ring tactician was supposed to slug it out with another young Mexican champ in WBO bantamweight Jhonny Gonzales (33-5-0, 28 KOs) in what could have been a blockbuster fight card in the Philippines featuring tough Filipino pugs against Mexican WBO champions. The opposing camps were however unable to strike a deal because Gonzales’ camp was unwilling to fly over to the Philippines and defend his diadem against Peñalosa for fear of a hometown decision. This fight could still materialize in the future since Peñalosa said that if he hopefully goes on to win the 122-lb title, he will still move down to bantamweight where he is most comfortable fighting.

PINOY PUGS CONTINUE TO SIZZLE AS GORRES-MONTIEL SHOWDOWN DRAWS NEAR

26 January, 2007 by Reylan Loberternos


“BAZOOKA” TOO MUCH FOR JANDAENG!

Tagbilaran City, RP – Teenage boxing sensation Alex John “Bazooka” Banal (11-0-1, 9 KOs) once again clobbered yet another highly-touted foreign foe with an emphatic 9th round technical knockout victory over Terdkiat Jandaeng of Thailand last Saturday night here. Inside the jam-packed Mandaue City Sports Complex, Banal’s fearless, unyielding aggression proved too much for Jandaeng, as the unbeaten Filipino boxer-puncher bombarded the iron-chinned Thai with a barrage of unanswered blows to the head and body. This prompted referee Tony Pesons to stop the fight two minutes and fifty-eight seconds into the ninth of the scheduled ten-round contest.

MELINDO IMPROVES UNBLEMISHED SLATE

The blockbuster local boxing showdown dubbed as “Stars of the Future” also featured Milan “Milenyo” Milendo (9-0-0, 2 KOs) in the main supporting bout. Melindo, whose monicker is based on the catastrophic typhoon that hit the Philippines last year, utilized his vast boxing artillery to outpunch and outscore the very tough Fabio Marfa en route to a unanimous decision victory with scores of 100-90, 96-94, and 97-93 in ten eventful rounds. Milan’s stinging jab that virtually emulated a piston in terms of frequency and speed, coupled with his vaunted left hook and uppercuts, befuddled Marfa all night long as he absorbed another loss in his forty-one professional fights.

ROACH TO TRAIN AJ AT WILD CARD!

Banal, finally becoming eligible to strut his stuff in the United States when he turned eighteen last December 28, hopes to join his fellow ALA Boys Rey “Boom-boom” Bautista (21-0-0, 16 KOs) and Z “The Dream” Gorres (26-1-1, 14 KOs) at Wild Card gym in Los Angeles, California to train under the prying eyes of Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao’s celebrated trainer Freddie Roach. This is in preparation for his WBO Asia Pacific Youth super flyweight championship bout against a still-to-be-determined opponent on February 24, underneath the Gorres – Montiel WBO titular showdown in Cebu City. ALA Boxing Stable’s chief trainer Edito “Ala” Villamor, who now accompanies and facilitates the training of Bautista and Gorres at Wild Card gym, is proud of what his prized students (Banal and Melindo) have achieved even in his absence.

WBO OFFICIALS FOR GORRES-MONTIEL NAMED

Barely a month to go before the highly-anticipated super flyweight showdown between Z “The Dream” Gorres of the Philippines and Mexico’s reigning and defending WBO champion Fernando “Cochulito” Montiel (32-2-1, 24 KOs), the World Boxing Organization has finally announced the appointment of the official referee and the three judges, as disclosed by topnotch boxing promoter Sammy Gello-ani of SGG Promotions, referring to an official communication from WBO President Francisco Valcarcel. It may be remembered that Gello-ani’s SGG Promotions won the purse bidding for the Gorres-Montiel mandatory bout held last November 27, 2006 at the WBO Headquarters in San Juan, Puerto Rico, besting Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions, thereby earning the promotional right to stage the event. Samuel Viruet of Mahopac, New York, more than 21 years as a referee and has officiated championship bouts that separately featured Naseem Hamed, Marco Antonio Barrera, Joan Guzman, serves as the third man in the ring. The judges will be Raul Caiz of Los Angeles, California, Chuck Giampa of Las Vegas, Nevada, and Denny Nelson of St. Paul, Minnesota.

OTHER PINOY PUGS MAKING WAVES!

A night after the “Stars of the Future” boxing card, SGG Promotion’s Bert Batawang (40-12-3, 33 KOs) used his dreaded right uppercut on Pingping Tepura’s jaw to score his 2nd consecutive 1st round KO victory, thereby keeping his hopes alive for a possible crack at Hugo Cazares’ WBO light flyweight diadem. In a separate boxing card held in Cotabato, a province located in the southernmost part of the Philippines, twenty-one-year-old bantamweight prospect Jundy “Pretty Boy” Maraon (9-0-1, 7 KOs) hardly broke any sweat in disposing off Saensak Singmanasak of Thailand for a knockout victory also in the very first round.

PINOY WBO REGIONAL CHAMPS

Two days before changing the annual calendar (December 30), twenty-four-year-old boxing phenoms Draian Francisco (10-0-0, 7 KOs) and Rexon Flores (17-3-4, 9 KOs) captured the WBO Asia Pacific flyweight and WBO Inter-Continental light flyweight titles, respectively against separate Thai foes. Francisco stopped erstwhile-unbeaten Pichitchok Singmanassak (9-1-0, 4 KOs), as referee Bruce McTavish halted the fight one minute and three seconds into the 7th round, while Flores eked out a unanimous decision victory over Wisan Sor Suchanya (8-3-1, 2 KOs) with identical scores of 118-109 on all of the judges’ scorecards.

AMONSOT AND MELLIGUEN TRY TO FOLLOW SUIT!

According to Philboxing.com’s Salven L. Lagumbay, arguably the Philippines’ most prolific boxing writer, former WBO Asia Pacific super featherweight champion Czar Amonsot (17-2-1, 10 KOs) and current professionally undefeated two-time South-East Asian games silver medallist Mark Jason Melliguen (6-0-0, 5 KOs) will get a crack at the WBO Asia Pacific titles against separate Korean foes in the lightweight and junior welterweight divisions, respectively on February 9 in Seoul, South Korea.

PACQUIAO TAKES ON IN JIN CHI NEXT!

12 January, 2007 by Reylan Loberternos


PACMAN GOING BACK TO 126 LBS.?

Tagbilaran City, RP–The last thing that comes to mind when someone mentions Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao (43-3-2, 34 KOs) is a “questionable” choice of opponents. This fire-breathing Filipino boxing icon, throughout his very explosive career both inside and outside the ring, has never been subjected to vilification with regard to these issues. However, it seems that there’s always a first time, after all. Recently, Bob Arum of Top Rank proclaimed that he has already lined up a list of Pacquiao’s next likely opponents, probably in Macao. None of whom, however, except maybe for WBC #2 Humberto “La Zorrita” Soto (40-5-2, 24 KOs) of Mexico, WBC featherweight champ In Jin Chi (31-3-1, 18 KOs) of Korea and IBF titlist Malcolm Klassen (19-3-2, 10 KOs) of South Africa, ring a bell.

IN JIN CHI SET FOR PACQUIAO IN MACAU!

It is an all-Asian brawl! In Jin Chi, the reigning WBC featherweight (126 lbs.) king who gave the then undefeated Erik “El Terrible” Morales all that he could handle although in a losing effort, wins the Pacquiao lottery. Chi is a very tough and rugged pugilist who boasts a reputation of not having tasted the canvass in his entire professional boxing career and should therefore be a great motivation for the Pinoy pug to do another first, just like what he did to Morales. One question remains unanswered, though… will Pacquaio move down to 126 lbs. and try to take Chi’s WBC diadem. This would setup the possibility of becoming a three-time world champion before moving four pounds up and go for his fourth world title in as much weight classes. Let’s wait and see.

PACLANDERS NOT HAPPY WITH PAC & BOB!

In a recent survey conducted at Pacland, a boxing website dedicated to Manny Pacquiao and other Pinoy pugs, a little over 51% of almost nine thousand respondents as of this writing voted that they were not pleased with Pacquiao’s decision to declare Top Rank his promoter. Only 33% agreed with Manny’s pronouncement, while 15% of the total respondents said they don’t care. A previous survey inveterately suggested WBC super featherweight champion Marco Antonio Barrera (63-4-0, 42 KOs), coincidentally and unfortunately promoted by Top Rank archrival Golden Boy Promotions, as the most wanted opponent for Pacquiao. WBO counterpart Joan Guzman (27-0-0, 17 KOs) and Mexico’s Juan Manuel Marquez (46-3-1, 35 KOs), are promoted by Golden Boy as well, these were among the Pacland’s most desired choices when it comes to future foes.

ARUM-OSCAR WAR STALLS PRESENT/FUTURE

Both Top Rank Promotions and Golden Boy Promotions have decided to settle the score in the courts and are both confident that they’ll win the Manny Pacquiao sweepstakes. Neither one is amenable to a settlement, thus a long legal battle awaits these parties. Pacquiao is caught in the middle of this conflict, which could cost him blockbuster and multimillion-dollar bouts with Barrera, Guzman, and Marquez.

THE CHOICE THAT “PACMAN” TOOK!

Prior to issuing his pronouncement, Manny would have asked his "preferred" promoter to buy out the contract he signed with the other promoter and make it as an addendum to their initially forged deal to get out of this mess he got himself into... that way, he can focus his attention on his next possible opponent and not worry about anything else. Correspondingly, I believe Top Rank, with solid backing by Las Vegas business mogul Steve Wynn, can put big money in Manny’s pockets for fighting the leser guys.

ARUM TO PAY FEES! WHAT ABOUT DAMAGES?

Top Rank boss Bob Arum, a lawyer himself, had earlier offered Pacquiao an added clause in the contract assuring him that they will take care of all the legal and monetary responsibilities in case Golden Boy wins the case they filed in court. Golden Boy Promotions, however, could not provide the same guarantee. This issue about legal security might well be the reason why Pacquiao opted to pronounce Arum as his preferred promoter.

BEST TO HAVE BEEN A FREE AGENT!

TRingtalk.com resident columnist Jason Aniel shares the same opinion as I that it would have been best for Pacquiao had he been a free agent. At this point in his career, he is already considered as a major draw. Promotional companies like the feuding Top Rank and Golden Boy would certainly make it a point to promote his fights, as they have manifested recently. Not being hooked up with any of these companies would have definitely minimized if not totally eliminated the matchmaking concerns with fighters under either one of these promotional umbrellas.

PAC MUST SETTLE SCORE WITH MARQUEZ!

Of all the possible bouts being lined up for the Pacman, it has always been my utmost yearning for a Pacquiao-Marquez rematch. Pacquiao needs to settle this unfinished business; otherwise, he will never erase the stigma of the draw, from which most of his critics derive denigration. A decisive win against Marquez practically silences Pacquiao’s critics and installs him as the best fighter there is, if he isn’t yet.

VALERO NEED BUILD HIS FAME & NAME

The undefeated Japan-based Venezuelan and current WBA 130 lb. king Edwin Valero (21-0-0, 21 KOs) is no doubt a perfect opponent for Pacquiao in terms of excitement and unpredictability of the outcome. However, a Pacquiao-Valero showdown at this point in time is not in the best interests of both parties, business-wise. Valero needs to build his name first by appearing in a high-profile PPV card, possibly underneath Pacquiao’s next assignment as the main supporting bout, before both of them battle it out inside the squared circle.

BAUTISTA AND GORRES ARRIVE IN LA!

Accompanied by ALA Boxing Stable’s world class coach Edito “ALA” Villamor, WBO's top contenders in their respective divisions, Rey “Boom-boom” Bautista (21-0-0, 16 KOs) and Z “The Dream” Gorres (26-1-1, 14 KOs) arrive in Los Angeles to train at the Wild Card Gym under the watchful eyes of Freddie Roach for their much-awaited showdowns against Daniel Ponce De Leon (30-1-0, 28 KOs) andFernando “Cochulito” Montiel (32-2-1, 24 KOs), respectively. The mammoth boxing trifecta of WBO championship bouts is scheduled for March 4 in the Philippines.

GONZALES OR CAZARES COMPLETES CARD

With WBO bantamweight (118) champ Jhonny Gonzales (33-5-0, 28 KOs) camp’s apprehensions on defending his title against Gerry Peñalosa (51-5-2, 34 KOs) in the Philippines, stating that they are afraid of a hometown decision. Another Mexican holder of a WBO belt, light flyweight (108) titlist Hugo Cazarez (24-3-1, 18 KOs), is being eyed as a possible replacement to defend his title against either Rodel “Magnum Force” Mayol (23-1-0, 18 KOs) or Bert Batawang (39-12-3, 32 KOs) on the same fight card.