Triumphant Peñalosa ready for next foe

MANILA, Philippines - World Boxing Organization bantamweight champion Gerry Peñalosa formally sealed a showdown with WBO super bantamweight titlist Juan Manuel Lopez after scoring a lopsided unanimous decision over Mexican German Meraz in the “Battle of the Best Bantamweights” card at the jampacked Cebu Coliseum late Saturday.

The official scores were 100-89, 100-89 and 99-90.

After the victory, Peñalosa called on Lopez, challenging his Mexican rival to train hard and be ready for their April 25 battle in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

“Be ready,” Peñalosa replied when asked about his message to Lopez. “It’s been my ultimate dream to win three world titles in different weight divisions. If I can achieve that, then maybe it’s time for me to consider retirement,” added the former WBC super flyweight champion.

Peñalosa actually tried to give the Cebuanos an exciting performance in his last fight on local soil but failed.

No thanks to Meraz, who virtually turned the ring into a dancefloor by running away majority of their 10-round encounter.

Except for sending Meraz to the floor with a solid 1-2 combination in the second round, the bout lacked in action and thrill as the Mexican opted not to mix it up with the Filipino champion.

“I’m very sorry to my Cebuano fans. I wanted to give them a good fight, but I can’t do it by myself. My opponent had no interest to fight me,” said Peñalosa, who improved to 54-6 with 36 KOs. Meraz slipped to 24-8-2 with 11 KOs.

Still, Peñalosa said he was satisfied with his showing, adding it was a good tune-up for the Lopez bout.

“I haven’t fought for a while and I’m happy that I lasted 10 rounds. It was a good preparation for Lopez,” said the 36-year-old southpaw from Negros Occidental.

Sharing the spotlight were rising stars Rolando Magbanua and Jundy Maraon of the North Cotabato-based Braveheart Boxing Gym, who came away with impressive victories.

The flashy Magbanua stopped Mexico’s Jose Angel Cota in 1:08 of the sixth round to snatch the interim WBO Oriental bantamweight belt. He dominated Cota with a flurry of punches, forcing the Mexican’s corner to throw in the towel.

Maraon, on the other hand, dethroned Jason Egera with a third-round knockout to emerge as the new WBO Asia-Pacific bantamweight crown-holder.

A solid left hand by Maraon sent Egera to the canvass, prompting referee Teddy Alivio to step in and wave off the match in 1:56 of the third round.

Glenn Porras, another promising Mindanao brawler, also wowed the crowd by knocking down Thai Daothon Sithsoey twice en route to a TKO win in 2:26 in the first round.

In other results, Edrin Dapudong won by unanimous decision over Ruther del Castillo; Lorenzo Villanueva floored Joy Pol in 1:56 of the second round; Richard Betos stopped Mike Romulo in 1:35 of the sixth round; Jestoni Pepito prevailed over Edison Serrano via split decision; Rommel Asenjo decked Marlon Villanueva in 2:23 of the third round; and Jermie Jabel triumphed over Manny Talisic via unanimous decision.

Glenn Gonzales, however, lost a unanimous decision to Jose Ocampo.