PE?ALOSA OFFERED FIGHT AGAINST NESTOR ROCHA
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 08 Jun 2008
WBO bantamweight champion Gerry Penalosa who lamented the fact that he couldn?t get a rematch with WBO super bantamweight champion Daniel Ponce De Leon whom he was confident of beating, only to see the champion lose his title by a stunning first round TKO to undefeated Juan Manuel Lopez, has been offered a tune-up fight against Nestor Rocha.
Penalosa told Viva Sports/Manila Standard Today that he received a call from his manager Billy Keane informing him that the fight would take place in Tucson , Arizona on August 1.
Penalosa said he requested to be given Philippine television rights for the fight against Rocha who has a record of 18-1 with 6 knockouts. The only loss of the 25 year old American from California was a six round unanimous decision to Jonas Hernandez on September 7, 2007. Rocha quickly came back from the loss to score a ninth round TKO win over Cesar Morales on November 2, 2007.
Penalosa who turns 36 on August 7 has a record of 53-6-2 with 36 knockouts. After dropping a twelve round unanimous decision to Ponce De Leon in a title fight on arch 17, 2007 Penalosa came back to win the WBO bantamweight crown with a spectacular one-punch knockout of Jhonny Gonzalez on August 11 last year. He then scored an eighth round TKO victory over former champion Ratanachai Sor Vorapin of Thailand in a title defense at the Araneta Coliseum last April 6.
Penalosa said while he didn?t mind the opportunity to fight the new world champion he said he would ?love to fight Israel Vasquez? the current WBC super bantamweight champion. Penalosa said he preferred Vasquez ?because he is a fighter who comes forward? which suits Penalosa?s counter-punching style.
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum told us earlier in the week that he was confident Lopez would beat Ponce De Leon and should NABF champion Bernabe Concepcion put on a good show in his July 26 fight on the undercard of the Miguel Cotto- Antonio Margarito showdown he would give Concepcion a shot at Lopez?s title. Arum said since he handles both fighters it won?t be a problem.
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