By Ronnie Nathanielsz
WBO bantamweight champion Gerry Penalosa’s Mexican opponent German Meraz arrived in Cebu Wednesday morning after a long and tiring flight from Mexico but despite this vowed to give Penalosa a hard time when they clash at the Cebu Coliseum on Saturday.
The fights will be telecast by the giant broadcast network ABS-CBN over Studio 23 at 9:00 p.m. on Saturday with a replay of the main event at 10:00 a.m.on Sunday over the pre-eminent Channel 2.
Boxing writer Lee Bates who booked for Meraz to fight Penalosa said Meraz "is a fighter who will fight anyone, anytime regardless of whether it is short notice or not. He's shown to be very durable as well, as when he stepped up against Zsolt Bedak (11-0, 3 KO's), Hernan Marquez (18-0, 14 KO's) and Eduardo Lazcano. He held his own against all of them in decision losses. He fought them each in their hometown and at the time they had a combined record of 41 wins and they remain unbeaten at the present time."
However, nothing seems to faze Penalosa who goes into the tune-up fight in top shape and loaded with confidence.
Penalosa told BoxingScene.com, insidesports.ph, Standard Today and Viva Sports said he is looking for a tough challenge from Meraz but would make sure to get a good workout before scoring a late round knockout.
Whether the Mexican will oblige is another question that fight fans will be eager to see in the fight card being promoted by North Cotabato vice governor Manny Pinol and well-known promoter Sammy Gello-ani.bor
The fight is crucial to Penalosa since he needs a good test prior to his career defining battle with WBO super bantamweight champion Juan Manuel “Juanman” Lopez on April 25.
iughtS says he is looking to “a latwe round knockout” win over Mexican German Meraz in a crucial ten-round tune-up fight in preparation for his career defining battle with WBO super bantamweight champion Juan Manuel “Juanma” Lopez scheduled for April 25 in Puerto Rico.
The 22 year old Meraz has a record of 20-11-1 with 8 knockouts. He won his last two fights against Juan Chabelas by TKO. Meraz stopped his Mexican foe in five rounds on November 8 and then stopped him in four rounds last December 13.
The veteran Penalosa boasts of a 53-6-2, 36 KO’s record and as always, has trained hard for this fight realizing how important it is in terms of his big title fight against the sensational Puerto Rican “Juanma” Lopez.
In the first of three supporting main events Rolando “Smooth Operator” Magnabua who is undefeated with 11 wins, 6 by knockout faces a real test against Mexico’s Jose Angel “Bocho” Cota who has a record of 6 knockouts in 8 wins with 3 defeats for the WBO Oriental bantamweight interim title.
Gello-ani said Cota is scheduled to arrive in Cebu tomorrow. The Argentine fighter is coming off a first round knockout victory over Alejandro Padilla last October 4 and has fought some solid opponents including Luis Maldonado who fought and lost to Donaire in an IBF/IBO flyweight title bout in December 2007.
