Friday, March 16, 2007 Sayson: An underdog’s confidence By Homer Sayson Second Overtime
CHICAGO - Presumed to be past his physical peak, Gerry Peñalosa climbs his Mt. Everest this Sunday, when he faces Daniel Ponce De Leon for the WBO super bantamweight title at the Mandalay Events Center in Las Vegas.
Gerry is a multiple world titlist, but at age 34, the sparkle in his once-brilliant career is slowly surrendering to the darkness of twilight.
Gerry, a Cebuano from San Carlos City, still has a lot of fight in him though. He is unbeaten since Sept. 2004 and has a string of five consecutive wins. But De Leon is no ordinary foe. He is the defending champ, only 26 years young and tough as a three-day-old chalupa.
De Leon has a scary record of 30-1 with 28 KOs. The southpaw from Chihuahua, Mexico can maim a horse with his right hand. And he can kill a bull with his vicious left hook.
If the above facts make you feel sad, this one ought to make you cry. Gerry is a heavy underdog, 10-to-1 to some estimations, 8-to-1 by others.
These are tough odds. It's like Penalosa The Titanic vs De Leon the Iceberg.
But Gerry (51-5, 34 KOs) is unfazed. "We will find out in the ring," he told me in the vernacular the other day, stressing what he already declared in a previous interview I had with him last month.
Gerry's camp echoes his confidence. De Leon is tailor-made for Peñalosa, they contend. They also believe that Gerry's speed, style and 18 years worth of ring smarts can more than compensate for De Leon's unmitigated power and edge in size.
I hope so, too.
Through philboxing.com's photo gallery, I caught a good look of De Leon during yesterday's press conference at a Mandalay Bay function room. I didn't like what I saw in De Leon, a confident lion with a Marine crew cut and the cold eyes of a matador.
Unlike De Leon, who guaranteed a knockout, Gerry didn't say much. But pictures paint a thousand words, and Gerry's photos at the presscon said a lot about his confidence. He was clearly happy to be there, flashing his Colgate smile before the cameras.
Age is creeping up on Gerry. His legs, once strong as an Acacia tree's torso, waver a bit on ocassion. And his stamina and endurance, which seemed inexhaustible in younger years, seem to have some limit now.
But the tougness has stayed the same. I don't know if it's enough to topple De Leon. I do know, however, that a fighter who doesn't fight scared will always have a chance.
So don't worry about those 10-1 and 8-1 odds. They're just numbers in the steely gaze of Penalosa's tired eyes.
Personally, I think the odds of Gerry beating De Leon are long, maybe a 4-to-1. But I'm very confident that Gerry will give a 10 in effort. Plus another 10 in courage. To me, that's more than enough.
CREDENTIALS. Magna Media International has given me credentials to the Penalosa-De Leon fight, which is the main undercard of the Barrera-Marquez tiff. I will fly to Las Vegas later today.
Stay tuned for my reports, which will include a daily column beginning today until Monday. Space-permitting, I will also pen my diaries.
