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Monday, April 07, 2008
6 Pinoys outclass boxing 'invaders'
By Edrik Aznar
QUEZON CITY -- Once again Gerry "The Fearless" Peñalosa, 35, defied all odds and brought glory to the country as he and his fellow Filipino warriors fended off all the foreign invaders with knockout victories in Sunday's "Invasion: The Philippines vs The World" at the Araneta Coliseum.
In the eighth round, Peñalosa (53-6-2, 36 KO's) successfully defended his World Boxing Organization bantamweight crown as he disposed of Ratanachai Sor Vorapin (79-10, 48 KO's), with a right uppercut that sent the Thai fighter to the canvass.
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Because of the punishment Sor Vorapin received from Peñalosa, referee Gino Rodriguez stopped the fight at the 2:31 mark.
Peñalosa was patient all throughout the fight and didn't rush things, as he waited for the right moment to dispose of his opponent.
Sor Vorapin fought aggressively and threw a lot of powerful punches, but the Filipino champion blocked and dodged the bombardment.
The two-division world champion found his opponent Sor Vorapin, whom he knocked out in 2005, a difficult foe but Peñalosa proved hungrier for a victory.
"Matibay yung kalaban ko. Gusto niya manalo pero gusto ko rin manalo (He's tough. He wanted to win, but I wanted to win too)," said Peñalosa.
In his next fight, Peñalosa wants to fight his tormentor, Daniel Ponce de Leon. "Gusto ko yung tumalo sa akin at ni 'Boom Boom' na si Daniel Ponce de Leon," said the WBO champion.
Manny Pacquiao, the WBC super featherweight champion, stood on the stage with his friend and said if the fight between Peñalosa and de Leon materializes, then he will be training with him.
Eric Gomez, vice president of Golden Boy Promotions, was impressed with Peñalosa's performance.
"Peñalosa was very good. We'll sit down and see who's next," said Gomez.
In the supporting bout, ALA Boy Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista (25-1, 18 KO's) brought back his past glory as he won convincingly with a seventh round KO over Mexican Genaro "Duro" Camargo(16-4, 10 KO's) and kept his WBO Inter-Continental super bantam weight strap.
Bautista downed the Mexican twice in the first round but his thunderous left hook in the second round was the charm.
After this victory, Bautista declared: "Boom Boom is back."
It was lights out for Uruguayan Caril "El Raton" Herrera (21-1, 13 KO's) as he was hit by a bombardment of lefts and rights from AJ "Bazooka" Banal (17-0-1, 14 KO's), who kept his undefeated record intact and is now the number one contender in the IBF super flyweight division.
Banal stopped the so-called "Pacquiao of Uruguay" with a TKO at the 1:18 mark of the fourth round. Herrera was also knocked down in the third round by a flurry of punches.
In another bloody match, the referee stopped the fighting at the 2:24 mark of the fifth round, hailing Ciso "Kid Terrible" Morales (11-0, 7 KO's) as the winner via TKO over Korean Yoo Shin Kim (6-2, 4 KO's).
Morales kept both his unblemished record and his WBO Oriental super bantamweight belt.
In other supporting bouts, Bert "Ninja" Batawang destroyed the much smaller but leaner Heri Amol with a KO from a body shot that sent the Indonesian to the canvass, gasping for air in the seventh round.
Michael Domingo finished his bout swiftly as he knocked out Thailand's Thepnemit Sor Chitpattana in the second round.
GBP and ALA Promotions, in cooperation with ABS-CBN, organized the fights, the first GBP-promoted event in the Philippines.
Among the sports personalities spotted were Pacquiao, Juan Manuel Marquez, Luisito Espinosa and Fil-am UFC fighter Brandon "The Truth" Vera. (Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Pampanga. (April 7, 2008 issue)
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