Gerry's smarts on and off the ring

When Gerry Peñalosa climbs the ring in the Cebu Coliseum on Saturday (February 21), we can’t help but have a mixed feeling being excited, happy, but also worried all at the same time. Funny, weird, but true.

While we’re glad that Gerry’s second lease on life has turned out well for his career, we’re also worried at the thought that he might get the beating of his life when he faces Juan Manuel “Juanma” Lopez for the WBO super bantamweight championship in April in Juanma’s home of Puerto Rico . Let’s put it this way. Gerry is already 36 and turns 37 years old in August, not exactly the ripe age of a boxer at his prime. In fact, he might be considered as a well beat-up boxer who has seen his better days.

So why is Gerry risking his career by signing up to face Puerto Rico’s latest sensation in his own backyard? After a solitary defense last year, Gerry has been quiet, no thanks to a cancellation of what should’ve been a second title defense last September. Then out of nowhere comes the big announcement that a fight with Juanma has been arranged. If you think about it, Gerry doesn’t even think he’s risking his career at all. He’s confident that he can take Juanma’s punches, much in the same way that he boxed beautifully against Daniel Ponce de Leon. And so we’ll believe Gerry when he says he can mix it up with Puerto Rico’s latest boxing hero.

Another angle that we should all consider is that the Juanma fight also looks good from a business perspective. Gerry realizes that his days as a boxer are almost over, and he needs to maximize every deal he can squeeze out of his promoters. From this angle, it doesn’t come as a surprise that he’ll be shooting for the moon when he goes for Juanma’s belt in April. He’ll be going for his third world championship after previously winning titles in the super flyweight and his current bantamweight championship. The most impressive facet about this current set-up is that Gerry remains active and wealthy for the rest of the year.

As a means to prepare the duel with Juanma, Gerry takes on Mexican German Meraz on Saturday with the hope of getting a good work-out before stepping up his training camp for the April bout. But that’s not the end of the story, and this is where Gerry and his manager Billy Keane have stood out as good negotiators for Gerry’s future. While Gerry sets his sights on the April fight, an interim WBO bantamweight championship fight will be held between WBO super flyweight champion Fernando Montiel and Erik Morel. While that may sound like bad news, it doesn’t mean that Gerry will be stripped of his WBO bantamweight title (at least not yet). If everything goes as planned (and scripted), the winner of the Montiel-Morel fight will have to face Gerry for the regular WBO bantamweight title that Gerry still holds. Against either boxer, Gerry should easily score a win. But this will be the scenario if Gerry loses to Juanma. Gerry has to pick himself up and defend his bantamweight title and remain a champ for the rest of the year. But that’s not the scenario that we’d like to see, is it?

I’d rather see Gerry scoring a smart win over Juanma, recording one of the biggest upsets of the year. A win by Gerry over Juanma will automatically open the doors to even bigger fights (and money) against the likes of WBC super bantamweight Israel Vasquez, WBA title-holder Celestino Caballero, or Rafael Marquez.

So either way you look at it, Gerry has already scored a KO with this deal. It’s great to see Gerry getting the breaks now on his third attempt to make it big. His second attempt to get back on track didn’t turn out well that he decided to retire. But this third run has been efficiently planned, executed and delivered. The end result? A second world championship: the WBO bantamweight title. But the show must move on to greater heights.

At the end of the day, we’re seeing a re-engineered Gerry Peñalosa who is showing boxing savvy both on and off the ring. He has managed the past two years of his career just like he has fought against his greatest opponents. Clever, smart, elusive and wais!

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Time-out: To the people of Lite Shipping, I wish you’d make use of your Multicab shuttle in Ormoc. It’s not there for display. It’s supposed to ferry people, especially when it’s raining. But then again, maybe I’m wrong? You can reach me at [email protected].