Peñalosa going for knockout vs Morel

MANILA, Philippines - Two-time world champion Gerry Peñalosa, nearing the end of a 20-year career, said yesterday he’s going all out for a knockout win over Puerto Rican ex-convict Eric (Little Hands of Steel) Morel in their interim WBO bantamweight title fight at the Hilton in Las Vegas on Feb. 13.

Peñalosa, 37, is coming off a late technical knockout loss to newly-crowned WBO featherweight titlist Juan Manuel Lopez in Puerto Rico last April and won’t rest until he captures another belt. What’s in his sights is the WBO bantamweight championship now held by Mexico’s Fernando Montiel who stakes his diadem against unbeaten Ciso Morales of Talibon, Bohol, and Cagayan de Oro in another fight on the same “Latin Fury 13/Pinoy Power 3” card staged by Top Rank.

In all, five Filipinos are seeing action in the Hilton show. Aside from Peñalosa and Morales, others are Bohol’s Nonito Donaire, Jr. who will defend his interim WBA superflyweight title against dangerous Mexican Gerson Guerrero, Virac featherweight Bernabe Concepcion who will battle rangy Puerto Rican Mario Santiago and Bacolod welterweight Mark Jason Melligen who will face undefeated Texan Raymond Gatica.

Peñalosa moved up to superbantamweight to challenge Lopez but was overpowered by the bigger Puerto Rican. Trainer Freddie Roach waved it off in the 10th round despite Peñalosa’s courageous pleading to go on. Now, Peñalosa is back in his natural weight division, determined to regain the throne he relinquished to meet Lopez. His goal is to retire a world champion.

“I’m doing perfectly fine,” said Peñalosa in a text from Los Angeles yesterday. “Morel is good but I know I will do better. I intend to win by knockout. It’s all in God’s hands.”

Peñalosa trained for Morel at the Wild Card Gym and confirmed that Roach will be in his corner for the fight.

Asked if he will challenge Montiel if the Mexican repulses Morales, Peñalosa declined to speculate. His future plans depend on how he fares against Morel. And if Morales upsets Montiel, it’s not likely Peñalosa will tangle with his countryman.

At the moment, Peñalosa said his only concern is Morel.

“I’m not really thinking of my next opponent yet,” said Peñalosa who turned pro in 1989 and held the WBC superflyweight title until losing it to In Joo Cho in his fourth defense in 1998. “My focus is just on Morel at first.”

Peñalosa’s wife Goody, who is also in Los Angeles staying with her sisters and brother in a room adjacent to her husband’s at the Vagabond Inn near the Wild Card Gym, said she’s praying for a convincing win.

“Gerry trains so hard and is very focused,” she said. “We don’t usually give any comments about his opponent until after the fight. He is so excited and in excellent condition.”

Morel, 34, is a former WBA flyweight and IBA superflyweight titlist. The 1996 Olympian has won his last six outings, three by knockout, and has a record of 41-2, with 21 KOs, compared to Peñalosa’s 54-7-2, with 36 KOs.

 In 2005, Morel was imprisoned after a conviction for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl. He was released three years later and staged a comeback in 2008, winning six in a row to set up the fight against Peñalosa.

A gutsy boxer-puncher, Morel survived three knockdowns to stop Ysaias Zamudo in the seventh round in a Grand Rapids brawl in 1999, displaying his remarkable resiliency.

Montiel, 30, is a former WBO flyweight and two-time superflyweight champion with a 39-2-2 record, including 29 KOs. Last September, he was lucky to escape with a technical decision over Alejandro Valdez.

In 2007, Montiel was in Cebu City to defend his WBO superflyweight crown against Z Gorres and barely won on a split 12-round decision.

Gorres, recovering from brain surgery, will be at ringside to witness his tormentor in action. Donaire gave two ringside tickets, an elegant Valentine’s Day dinner treat and a share of his purse in the Guerrero fight to Gorres and his wife Daches.

Gorres is slowly returning to normalcy but his left arm and left leg remain limp. He is undergoing rehabilitation and ALA Boxing Gym owner Tony Aldeguer said recently his improvement is steady. Gorres and his wife will likely fly home next month. He underwent brain surgery after a fight against Luis Melendez in Las Vegas last November.

Morales, 22, is trained by Donaire’s father Dodong and is fresh from a majority eight-round win on points over Miguel Angel Gonzalez Piedras in Ontario last November. His record is 14-0, with eight KOs, including three in the first round.