Peñalosa ang 'bagong kampeon'! – Roach

Ayon sa prediksiyon ng kumpiyansang trainer na si Freddie Roach kahapon, ang Pilipinas ay magkakaroon ng bagong world champion pagkatapos ng mandatory title rematch sa pagitan nina dating champion at no. 1 contender Gerry Peñalosa at kasalukuyang super flyweight king Masamori Tokuyama ng JO-Castle Hall sa Osaka, Japan.

Sinabi ni Roach na nasa kondisyon si Peñalosa na umabot sa 114 3/4 pounds. "He is focused on the fight and is very positive. He has worked very hard and he’s got game plan in his head and he knows how to beat his opponent. This fight is very important to him and he has done everything right away."

Si Tokuyama ay eksakto naman sa weight limit na 115 lbs.

Ang Peñalosa-Tokuyama title fight ay tinaguriang ‘Obsession in Osaka’ na handog ng PAGCOR sa pakikipagtulungan ng San Miguel Beer na ipapalabas ng Viva Sports sa alas-9:00 ng gabi pagkatapos ng Game Two ng PBA All-Filipino Cup.

Sinabi ni Roach na naantala ang training ni Peña-losa sa Wild Card Gym sa Los Angeles ang naging dahilan ng kanyang pagbabalik sa Manila para sa libing ng kanyang amang si Carl.

Gayunpaman, sinabi ni Roach na bago umalis si Peñalosa sa Los Angeles ay handa na itong makipaglaban.

"He was holding back a little bit so I thought the best decision was to let him go home. I think it was better to get it out of the way instead of having it at the back of his mind," ani Roach.

Sinabi ni Roach na nang kanyang simulan ang kanyang training para kay Peñalosa, sinabi nito sa kanya na, "this was an invasion and he was going behind enemy lines. We are now in the other guy’s hometown right now and I feel we need a knockout to win this fight and that’s what we are going after. Gerry will start very aggressively from round one till its over.