WBO ORDERS PENALOSA TITLE DEFENSE AGAINST VORAPIN
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 23 Nov 2007
The WBO has ordered bantamweight champion Gerry Penalosa to defend his title against mandatory challenger Ratanachai Sor Vorapin of Thailand.
In a letter to Golden Boy Promotions vice president and award-winning international matchmaker Eric Gomez and Kokiet Panichayarom who handles Vorapin, WBO president Francisco ?Paco? Valcarcel said ?the parties have 30 days to negotiate an agreement for the title fight.?
Valcarcel said that ?if an accord is not reached within the time frame, a Purse Bid will be ordered in the following ten days? even as he added that ?any of the parties involved may request a Purse Bid at any time.?
The communication was signed by Doris Companys, executive coordinator, in the absence of Valcarcel who apparently dictated the communication. However, there was a mistake when the letter referred to ?Title Featherweight Bout.?
Vorapin, the 31 year old shifty southpaw lost the title to Johnny Gonzalez by a seventh round TKO on October 29, 2005 and in his last four fights padded his record to 71-9 with 47 knockouts against Filipino patsies. He also lost by a sixth round TKO to Penalosa in a WBC International super flyweight title bout on November 25, 2005 in a fight covered by Viva Sports at the Casino Filipino amphitheater near the airport.
Last September 21 he fought Rene Banares who was sneaked out of the country with the approval of the Games and Amusements Board and retired at the end of the second round. On March 21 Vorapin scored a sixth round unanimous decision over Roger Monserto while on November 30, 2006 he scored a second round knockout over Ramil Anito following a fourth round TKO of Johnny Lear on August 16, 2006.
Penalosa, the former WBC super flyweight champion who won the WBP bantamweight crown with a stunning, one-punch knockout of Gonzalez last August 11 is 35 years old and has a record of 52-6-2 with 35 knockouts.
When Penalosa moved up in weight to fight menacing super bantamweight champion Daniel Ponce De Leon he gave a good account of himself in dropping a twelve round unanimous decision. Ponce De Leon then demolished Rey ?Boom Boom? Bautista in one round last August in the Philippines-Mexico World Cup. His win was the only one scored by the Mexicans while the Filipinos, including Penalosa won five straight going into the final bout.
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