Is it over for Gerry?

The pain would’ve been easier to bear if only Gerry Peñalosa lost convincingly. But last Friday night, Peñalosa was frustrated in his third attempt to regain the World Boxing Council (WBC) superflyweight title at the Castle Hall in Osaka and the loss by the skin of his teeth was like a nightmare, a bad dream that refuses to go away.

There will probably be no fourth try for the hard-luck Peñalosa even as each of the three stains in his record was tainted by controversial, if not dubious, circumstances.

Since losing the WBC crown to In Joo Cho in 1998, Peñalosa was thwarted in three straight bids to win it back–by Cho on a questionable split decision in a rematch, by Masamori Tokuyama–who had dethroned Cho–on a disputed verdict last year, and again, by Tokuyama on points the other night.

Peñalosa, 30, just couldn’t get a break. His manager Rudy Salud did everything possible in persuading WBC president Jose Sulaiman to give the fighter a first, second, and third crack at regaining the throne. Salud did his part. So did Sulaiman who kept Peñalosa as the WBC’s No. 1 contender. Lady Luck, however, refused to cooperate.

It was the same, sad story last Friday.

Tokuyama, a Japan-born third generation North Korean whose other name is Chang Soo Hong, wouldn’t stand still in the early going as he repeatedly circled Peñalosa to avoid getting hit. Peñalosa had difficulty finding the mark as Tokuyama was an elusive, moving target. While he landed the cleaner and more telling blows, Peñalosa couldn’t launch a consistent attack because Tokuyama knew it was suicidal to engage the San Carlos City southpaw in a toe-to-toe slugfest.

In the third round, American referee Eddie Cotton slapped a point deduction on Tokuyama for opening a cut on Peñalosa’s forehead above the bridge of his nose with a butt. That was the only penalty meted Tokuyama throughout the 12-round bout despite a wanton display of unsportsmanlike tactics. Tokuyama locked Peñalosa’s arms, pushed his head down, forearmed him, and pushed him off. The rangier, taller bleached-blond champion knew he had to resort to those tactics to fend off the Filipino.

Cotton, 55, was a late replacement for Laurence Cole who was initially picked for the job by Sulaiman but withdrew because of a family commitment in the US. Cotton was the third man in the ring during the Lennox Lewis-Mike Tyson duel in Memphis last June.

After a strong start, Peñalosa tapered off in the middle rounds as Tokuyama turned aggressive. Peñalosa appeared clueless on how to stop Tokuyama in his tracks. Tokuyama clearly upset Peñalosa’s rhythm with his circling tactics and in the 10th round, connected some stiff punches to the body. But Peñalosa regrouped in the last two rounds as Tokuyama ran out of gas. Peñalosa finished with a flourish but couldn’t put the pesky Japanese away.

The fight was close. The Star scored it 115-112 for Peñalosa.

Two judges also saw it close. Tom Kaczmarek scored it 114-113 for Tokuyama and Duane Ford, the same count for Peñalosa. The deciding vote was cast by Englishman Richie Davies who turned in a suspicious 116-111 scorecard for Tokuyama.

Davies, 47, had no record of judging a world title fight before Friday night. He’s considered England’s No. 2 referee, behind only Larry O’Connell who incidentally, bungled the job in the first Tokuyama-Peñalosa fight last year. So being ranked behind the incompetent O’Connell means nothing.

Sulaiman was the fight supervisor at ringside. He promised Salud a fair shake in the judging. So why was Davies picked as one of the three judges? Surely, Peñalosa deserved more than that, considering he’d been robbed twice previously in bids to regain the title.

Tokuyama’s style is deceptive and would impress an inexperienced judge like Davies. He throws a lot of punches–much more than his opponent because of his superior workrate. But most of his blows land on the arms, gloves, and shoulders. He hardly scores a clean shot–which explains his low knockout rate, only eight stoppages in 28 wins so far.

If a judge isn’t discerning, he’d be easily swayed by Tokuyama’s dizzying handspeed. It seemed like Davies wasn’t discerning.

Peñalosa, Salud and their traveling party arrived from Osaka yesterday afternoon.

A plan for Freddie Roach to accompany Peñalosa back to Manila was aborted when the American trainer hurried home to confer with Tyson. Roach said Tyson has invited him to train the former heavyweight champion for his February fight against Clifford Etienne.