By Ronnie Nathanielsz

WBO bantamweight champion Gerry Penalosa who is working out with IBF/IBO flyweight champion Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire in the summer capital of Baguio City says Donaire looks great.

Penalosa said Donaire sparred with undefeated Rodolfo Sumabong (7-0, 3 KO’s) a protégé of Rex “Wakee”Salud and was “very impressive.’ Penalosa said “ I was surprised at what he showed in sparring” over two days, going four rounds on the first d ay and five on the next.

Penalosa said that promising Drian Francisco would arrive at the training camp on Friday to spar with Donaire. Francisco who won the WBO Asia Pacific flyweight title in 2007 has a record of 15-0 with 7 knockouts and is regarded as a promising prospect although he hasn’t been fighting as often as he should to hone his skills, having fought only once last year.

The veteran Penalosa who is training for a tune-up fight against Mexico’s German Meranz (20-11, 8 KO’s) on  February  21 in Cebu prior to an April 25 showdown against WBO super bantamweight champion Juan Manuel “Juanma” Lopez in Puerto Rico said he was feeling good and ready for the tune-up fight.

Meraz won his last two fights by stoppage. On November 8, 2008 he scored a 5th round TKO over Juan Chabelas and in a rematch on December 13 won by a 4th round TKO.

The Mexican lost a unanimous eight round decision to undefeated Zsolt Bedak (10-0, 3 KO’s) on September 27 and also dropped a unanimous decision to another undefeated fighter, Hernan Marquez (18-0, 14 KO’s) on July 12 last year

Promoter Manny Pinol, vice governor of Cotabato, angrily took issue over the reference to Meraz as a “workhorse” who had fought 13 times last year.

The word “workhorse” if used in reference to a machine indicates that it “performs dependably under heavy, prolonged use” while when used in reference to an individual means  “a person who works tirelessly at difficult, time-consuming tasks.”  It also means “a steady, responsible worker who assumes a heavy workload” which is exactly what we assessed Meraz to be as a fighter  

Also at the Baguio training camp is Dodie Boy Penalosa Jr, the promising amateur son of former world champion Dodie Boy Penalosa Jr.