|
TWO faces of retribution will show up on Sunday at
the Araneta Coliseum.
Gerry Peñalosa vowed to avenge
the defeat of a dozen comrades opposite Ratanachai Sor Vorapin of
Thailand in the main dish of the colossal boxing card called
“Invasion: Philippines vs. The World.”
“Igaganti ko ang mga kababayan
natin,” said Peñalosa, who will be making his first defense of
the World Boxing Organization (WBO) bantamweight belt.
Vorapin is seeking revenge
himself. He lost via sixth round TKO to Peñalosa nearly eight years
ago at the Casino Filipino Amphitheater in Parañaque.
“I became overconfident that
time,” Vorapin recalled. “I have learned my lessons and
everybody will see that on Sunday.”
Both fighters carry impressive
records. Peñalosa has a record of 52-6-2 with 35 knockouts while
Vorapin is already a veteran of 81 fights, winning 72 of them, 48 by
knockouts.
Peñalosa won the crown by
stopping Jhonny Gonzalez in the seventh round with a single shot to
the body last August at the Arco Arena in Sacramento, California.
The other Filipinos seeing action
are one-time world title challenger Rey “Boom-Boom” Bautista, AJ
Banal, RP bantam champ Michael Domingo and veteran Bert Batawang.
Bautista will defend his WBO
Asia-Pacific super bantamweight crown against Mexican Genaro Camargo,
Banal will challenge world No. 2 super flyweight Caril Herrera of
Uruguay in an elimination for the world No. 1 ranking, Domingo will
meet Thailand’s Thepnimit Sor Chitpattana, and Batawang takes on
Indonesia’s Heri Amol.
WBO Oriental and Asia-Pacific
super bantamweight ruler Ciso “Kid Terrible” Morales will defend
his title against South Korea’s Yoo Shin Kim (6-1, 4 KO’s).
While Peñalosa and Vorapin are
getting most of the attention, the fight between the undefeated
Banal (16-0, 13 KO’s) and Herrera (21-0, 13 KO’s) is expected to
be the day’s most explosive.
--Noli Cruz
|
