PENALOSA TUNES UP FOR MEGA SHOWDOWN AGAINST JUANMA!
By Jason Aniel
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 21 Feb 2009
San Francisco, CA?Today in Cebu City, WBO Bantamweight titlist, Gerry Penalosa, returns to the ring in a non-title bout against unheralded German Meraz. Penalosa will be coming off a 10-month lay-off, and is taking the bout in preparation for the biggest fight in his long career against WBO Super Bantamweight titlist, Juan Manuel ?Juanma? Lopez, which is scheduled to take place April 25th in Lopez?s home country of Puerto Rico. HBO plans to televise the bout and distribute it in the United States.
Penalosa, 56-6-2 (36 KO?s), was last seen in April of 2008 against Ratanachai Sor Vorapin, where he looked masterful in dominating the Thai over 8 rounds. His opponent this Saturday, German Meraz, 20-11-1 (8 KO?s), is a club fighter out of Mexico. He is not expected to put up much of a fight against Penalosa, who is at least eight levels above his opponent.
Tune up fights have been a dying concept in recent times. With huge paydays for televised bouts, fighters do not want to risk losing that big payday because of a tune up bout. Promoters for the March 14 card, featuring Amir Kahn taking on Marco Antonio Barrera, avoided what could have a huge setback, when Barrera suffered a cut in a tune-up bout in Mexico. In taking on a inexperienced Meraz, with a ?nothing to lose? mentality, Penalosa is risking suffering a possible cut which could postpone or cancel his big bout against Juanma. Also, strange events can happen when elite fighters take on unknown fighters in tune-ups. Manny Pacquiao was knocked down in a tune-up fight back in 2003.
However, Penalosa has been inactive for 10 months and a tune-up bout would get rid of some rust that occurs during a long layoff. Especially against a fighter like Lopez, who has scored 3 straight first round knockouts, Penalosa may not have enough time to work off some rust in the early rounds.
Against an opponent like Meraz, the Penalosa victory is all but assured. Hopefully, Penalosa will not suffer any cuts or injuries this Saturday and will get in enough rounds to kick off training camp in preparation for his biggest challenge in his career.
Looking ahead to showdown against Lopez, Penalosa will undoubtedly enter as the underdog against the hometown titlist. Juanma has looked unbeatable in the past couple of fights. Penalosa is 36 and will be moving up to 122lbs against a much bigger and stronger opponent. Both fighters share one common opponent, which is Daniel Ponce De Leon. Penalosa suffered a controversial decision loss to De Leon while Lopez annihilated him one round. On paper, the cards look heavily stacked against the Filipino.
However, the cards were also stacked against Pacquiao, Hopkins, and Shane Mosley for their bouts. And all three, particularly Mosley and Hopkins, scored huge upset victories. Both Hopkins and Mosley were considered over the hill fighters who were unlikely to withstand the younger and stronger opponents. However, in boxing styles make fights and Hopkins and Mosley out-boxed and dominated their younger opponents.
Penalosa is a great counter puncher and is very difficult to hit cleanly with more than one punch. More importantly, like Hopkins, Penalosa, who has never been knocked out, has lived a clean life and has preserved his body throughout his entire career. Where some fighters are done before hitting age 30, Penalosa is still going strong at 36 years.
Also, at this stage, now is the perfect time for Penalosa to challenge Juanma. Lopez will continue to improve because he is only 25. Penalosa can possibly go more rounds this Saturday against Meraz than Lopez has in his last 3 fights. Lopez has only reached the 10th round once and has never faced any type of adversity. Where Lopez will be Penalosa greatest challenge, the same can be said about Lopez. It will be Juanma?s first appearance on HBO as the main event in his backyard. There will be a lot of pressure for him to duplicate his past dominance.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Jason Aniel.
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