Peñalosa defends title vs Thai here

Gerry Peñalosa will defend his WBC (World Boxing Council) international superflyweight title against Thai Ratanachai Sor Vorapin on Nov. 25 at the Casino Filipino Amphitheater in Parañaque.

Peñalosa has been training in earnest and has vowed to hurdle this particular fight which serves as his first defense of the crown he won over another Thai fighter, Pone Saengmorakot, at the same venue last May.

Promoter-sportsman and former PBA commissioner Rudy Salud said Peñalosa is also lined up to fight the victor between newly-crowned WBC superflyweight champion Masanori Tokuyama and Japanese challenger Akihiko Nago early next year. The Tokuyama-Nago clash is set Dec. 11.

"I expect a very good fight, perhaps better and more exciting than the Peñalosa-Saengmorakot clash last May," said Salud.

Both fighters tote almost identical records heading into the fight with the 28-year-old Peñalosa, who hit the comeback trail with a technical knockout win over Saengmorakot in the sixth round, boasting of 38 wins, including 26 knockouts, in 43 fights. He had three losses and two draws.

Vorapin, the 29-year-old hard-hitting fighter whom Salud describes as a "terror of a challenger," has also won 38 bouts, 27 of them inside the distance although he lost four times, including one to Mike Johnson, the IBF junior bantamweight champion at the time of the fight.

The blockbuster fight, sponsored by Pagcor and presented by San Miguel Corp., will be backed up by a strong undercard.