It’s up to Gerry

Lawyer Rudy Salud has done his job.

At the World Boxing Council (WBC) convention that ended yesterday in Pattaya, Thailand, Salud filed a resolution protesting referee Larry O’Connell’s failure to deduct points from Masamori Tokuyama in his WBC superflyweight title defense against Gerry Peñalosa in Yokohama last September.

Salud’s protest was upheld by the WBC after Chuck Williams, one of three judges in the disputed bout, testified that Tokuyama repeatedly butted Peñalosa. Williams counted six butts that drew blood from the challenger. Under WBC rules, a fighter who opens a cut on his opponent with an accidental headbutt is automatically penalized a point. Two points are deducted if the referee declares a deliberate butt.

Peñalosa finished the fight bleeding from six cuts, including a gaping scalp wound shaped into a "J" about three inches long. He had three cuts over his left eye and two over his right. Despite Tokuyama’s butting spree, O’Connell didn’t deduct a single point from the Japanese champion of North Korean descent. In the last three rounds, Peñalosa could hardly see as blood spewed out of the cuts into his eyes.

If O’Connell had penalized Tokuyama at least three points, Peñalosa would’ve won by a split decision. But as it turned out, Tokuyama retained the WBC 115-pound crown on a unanimous verdict.

After the bout, a downcast Peñalosa said he would retire if Salud decides to step down as his manager. Salud had intimated that if Peñalosa lost in his second bid to regain the title, he would preterminate their contract which expires in June 2003. Salud later agreed to continue as Peñalosa’s manager but signed up influential Japanese promoter Akihiko Honda to take over as business agent.

In Pattaya, Salud made an impassioned appeal for the WBC to give Peñalosa one more chance. WBC president Jose Sulaiman didn’t give it a second thought. Salud, whose pristine reputation is well-known in global boxing circles, obtained Sulaiman’s commitment for Peñalosa to be designated a mandatory challenger within a maximum of nine months – assuming he wins his next two fights.

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Peñalosa is slated to face the winner of the WBC interim superflyweight title bout between Philippine champion Joel Avila and Junvher Halog in San Fernando, Pampanga, on Dec. 15. If he beats the Avila-Halog survivor, Peñalosa advances to battle former WBC flyweight titlist and No. 6 superflyweight contender Malcolm Tunacao in a fight to decide the next world championship challenger.

Tokuyama, meanwhile, takes on No. 5 contender Kazuhiko Ryuko in the fourth defense of the WBC diadem in Yokohama on March 23. If Ryuko wins, he’ll be ordered by the WBC to stake the title against Peñalosa within 90 days. If Tokuyama wins, he will be allowed to make another optional defense – possibly against hot prospect Katsuhige Kawashima – in May. The Tokuyama-Kawashima winner will then defend the title against Peñalosa in Tokyo during the next WBC convention sometime in September.

So for Peñalosa to win back the WBC crown, he not only has to remain unbeaten but he’s also got to defeat another Japanese – Tokuyama or Ryuko or Kawashima – in Japan. Peñalosa wrested the WBC title from a Japanese, Hiroshi Kawashima, on points in Tokyo in 1997 and lost it to In Joo Cho of South Korea a year later.

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Among the three, Ryuko seems the least formidable. The 29-year-old southpaw packs a 13-1-3 record, with only four knockouts. He has lost to Filipino Nolito Cabato and was held to a draw by another Filipino, Raffy Montalban. A former Oriental champion, Ryuko also fought Shin Terao – who was knocked out in a single round by Manny Pacquiao in 1998 – to a draw.

Kawashima, 27, has compiled a 20-2 mark, with 14 knockouts. He’s fresh from back-to-back wins over former world champion Yokthai Sithoar and Singhdam Kiatwisak. One of his two losses was dealt by Filipino Jess Maca. If Kawashima beats Tokuyama, he’ll be easy prey for Peñalosa because of his face-up style.

The toughest to beat is still Tokuyama whose record is 25-2-1, with six knockouts. Peñalosa is at his worst fighting a hit-and-run artist like Tokuyama. The only way Peñalosa can topple Tokuyama from the WBC throne is to force him into a slugfest and put the pressure from the opening bell.

A prominent local boxing scholar said Salud should consider hiring a new trainer for Peñalosa. Not that his brothers Dodie Boy and Erbing, who act as his trainers, are incompetent. It’s just that perhaps, Peñalosa could use fresh ideas from someone new. If Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach is coming to town, maybe they could hook up in the gym and take it from there.

Salud has done his job – he’s kept Peñalosa’s title hopes alive. Now it’s up to Peñalosa to do his part.