GERRY Peñalosa is just waiting on the easement of Metro Manila’s quarantine status and the approval of the Games and Amusements Board (GAB) to hold his first boxing show since the outbreak of Covid-19.
Peñalosa, the owner of Gerrypens Promotions, is planning on holding a six-fight boxing show.
“I’m just waiting for the go signal. I’m waiting for Manila to be under modified general community quarantine and the approval of GAB,” Peñalosa told SunStar Cebu.
The show is headlined by International Boxing Federation (IBF) No. 1 rated bantamweight Michael Dasmarinas facing experienced Rowell Rosia in a 10-round fight.
The 28-year-old Dasmarinas needs a win if he plans on remaining as the mandatory contender for IBF bantamweight king Naoya Inoue, who’ll be defending his two belts against Jason Moloney on Oct. 31, 2020. Dasmarinas is yet to fight in 2020 but has won both his fights in 2019 against Artid Bamrungauea and Kenny Demecillo.
Dasmarinas,however, shouldn’t take Rosia lightly because the latter is known to be a spoiler.
The 32-year-old Rosia is coming off a unanimous decision upset over former world title challenger Aston Palicte on Dec. 21. He has also fought the likes of IBF flyweight king Moruti Mthalane, one-time world title contender Petchbarngborn Kokietgym, Genisis Libranza, Kongfah CP Freshmart and Giemel Magramo.
Dasmarinas is 30-2-1 with 20 knockouts, while Rosia is 16-9-1 with eight knockouts.
The two other confirmed bouts are promising unbeaten bantamweight Carl Jammes Martin (15-0, 14 KOs) up against grizzled veteran Ardin Diale (35-16-4, 17 KOs) and unbeaten former amateur standout Criztian Pitt Laurente (5-0, 3 KOs) taking on Juanito Paredes (8-6-1, 3 KOs). Both fights will be 10-rounders.
The original plan was to hold the event on Oct. 17 at the Resorts World Manila. But because of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, Gerrypens Promotions will have to follow strict protocols and stage the fight in their gym similar to what Omega Pro Sports International did with its “Bubble Boxing” event in Mandaue City on Oct. 7.
“Maybe we’ll be able to do it in November or December. The original plan was in Resorts World but it’s still not allowed in front of an audience. So, we’ll just have to do it in the gym,” said Peñalosa, who’ll be staging the first pro boxing event in Manila since Covid-19 hit the country. (EKA)