Peñalosa back in harness

Frustrated in two bids to regain the World Boxing Council (WBC) superflyweight title, Gerry Peñalosa isn’t giving up the fight.

Peñalosa’s manager Rudy Salud said yesterday retirement is out of the question and rekindled hopes of the San Carlos City southpaw becoming a world champion again. Salud told The STAR he has signed up Akihiko Honda to act as Peñalosa’s business manager and is yielding his share of the fighter’s purses to the prominent Japanese promoter.

Peñalosa had earlier indicated he would retire if Salud withdraws as his manager. Salud’s contract to manage Peñalosa expires in June 2003. Salud said if Peñalosa regains the world crown before his contract lapses, there will be an automatic two-year extension for Honda as business manager.

Salud recently attended the World Boxing Association (WBA) convention in Bangkok to find out if Peñalosa could be considered for a title shot. Peñalosa is not rated by the WBA because he holds the WBC International 115-pound title.

But WBA Ratings Committee chairman and executive director Gilberto Jesus Mendoza, who is in town, assured Salud that if top challenger Alexander Muñoz of Venezuela dethrones WBA junior bantamweight champion Celes Kobayashi early next year, he will personally order the first defense to be against Peñalosa in Manila.

Mendoza’s promise was a pleasant surprise for Salud. In Peñalosa’s two bids to regain the WBC title, he had to fight In Joo Cho in Seoul and Masamori Tokuyama in Yokohama. Mendoza made the commitment in behalf of his father Gilberto, the WBA president since 1982.

Salud said he’s also studying the option of pressing for a rematch against Tokuyama who beat Peñalosa on points in his third WBC title defense last month.

WBC president Jose Sulaiman has advised Games and Amusements Board (GAB) Chairman Eduardo Villanueva to file a protest on the Tokuyama-Peñalosa fight for referee Larry O’Connell’s failure to penalize the champion for repeated headbutting during the WBC convention in Pattaya in December.

In a letter to Salud, Sulaiman said he has received reports that O’Connell was remiss and Peñalosa prejudiced in the controversial bout.

Salud said Peñalosa cried in his presence when they spoke about his future in an emotional meeting last Sunday. When Salud assured Peñalosa he would continue as manager, the fighter vowed to work even harder to win back his crown. The next day, Peñalosa was back in the gym — his first visit since returning from Yokohama.

Mendoza flew to Manila from the WBA convention in Bangkok. Last Thursday, he laid flowers at Lope (Papa) Sarreal, Sr.’s grave in Imus, Cavite, to pay tribute to the promoter who put Asia in the world boxing map.

Mendoza, 30, said he will review the records of top Filipino fighters using the WBA’s computerized rating system to determine who should be ranked in the top 10.