BAUTISTA, PENALOSA IN QUEST FOR WORLD CROWNS!
By Salven L. Lagumbay
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 12 Aug 2007
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Two Filipinos will attempt to win world titles, while four more will try to put the Philippines farther in the race for boxing's bragging rights as they face Mexican warriors in today's World Cup of Boxing: Mexico vs Philipines at the 7,000-capacity reconfigured Arco Arena here.
The Filipinos' quest will be led by the undefeated Rey 'Boom Boom' Bautista and livewire veteran Gerry Penalosa, as they see action in the co-main event of this seven bout card.
Bautista will challenge WBO superbantam champion Daniel Ponce De Leon, while Penalosa goes up against WBO bantamweight king Jhonny Gonzalez.
Television giant ABS-CBN will air the fights 'live' starting with a pre-fight program at 8:30AM today, to be followed by the bouts of AJ Banal, Z Gorres, Penalosa and then Bautista.
WEIGHTS AND ODDS
At yesterday's official weigh-in held at the Arden Fair Mall, both De Leon and Bautista easily made weight in only their first try at the scales. De Leon weighed in at 121.6 lbs, while Bautista checked in at 121.4 lbs.
According to on-line betting odds posted by Bodog.com, De Leon is a --180 favorite to defeat Bautista, while the Boholano is a +150 to dethrone the champion.
Third man for the Bautista-De Leon tiff is Californian Jon Schorle, while judges are Steve English, Max De Luca and John Stewart.
WBO bantam boss Jhonny Gonzalez tipped the scales at 116.8 lbs, while challenger Gerry Penalosa was at 117.8 lbs.
Gonzalez is also a --600 favorite to win, while Penalosa is an underdog at +400.
Appointed to referee the Penalosa-Gonzalez fight is Pat Russell, while tasked to pen the bout are judges Steve Morrow, Ralph McKnight, and CJ Ross.
In the IBF Intercontinental junior bantamweight championship, Z "The Dream" Gorres came in at 114.4 lbs, while Mexican ex-world champ Eric Ortiz was at 115 lbs.
Promoter Oscar De La Hoya was in attendance, and was mobbed by the mammoth crowd that witnessed the weigh-in. Superstar Manny Pacquiao was a no-show, while Juan Manuel Marquez gamely posed with his fans. Pacquiao was later reported to have flown back to the Philippines for unknown reasons. (See related story)
UNDERCARD
The rest of the match-ups and their weights were: AJ Banal (115 lbs) versus Jorge Cardenas (114.8 lbs); Michael Domingo (121 lbs) versus Miguel Roman (123.2 lbs); Diosdado Gabi (118.4 lbs) versus Jose Angel Beranza (118 lbs).
A middleweight curtain-raiser will precede all bouts featuring Sacramento's Brandon Gonzalez against Angel Polanco of Mexico.
NOTES: A special mass was held this morning by Monsignor Guillermo Gaston (Bacolod) and Fr. Joe Pacquing for the Filipino fighters. The Banares bros rendered their beautiful rendition of "The Prayer," as everyone, including the Aldeguer Sisters (Terry and Lally)was moved by the beatiful music...Tagbilaran City Mayor Dan Neri Lim leads the Bohol contingent here that will be cheering for Bautista and AJ Banal, who both hail from Bohol...The Arco Arena, which normally sits more than 17,000 fans as a basketball stadium, has been reconfigured to accomodate just over 7,000 for today's event, according to a source from the box office. This would allow all fans to have better viewing of the fights...According to the same source, ticket sales were doing really good, and are expected to be gobbled up by a large Mexican crowd today, who are reportedly notorious walk-in buyers...Unexpectedly, the Filipino fans who came yesterday at the weigh-in were never outnumbered based on the decibel levels of their shoutouts for Filipino fighters...Oscar De la Hoya landed on his private jet after a quick stop in Los Angeles for the Pacquiao-Barrera presscon. Always the professional, De la Hoya wore light polo and jeans to the weigh-in, compared to the coat-and-tie he had on at the Pac-Barrera presser just a few hours before...
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Salven L. Lagumbay.
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