By Mark Vester
WBO bantamweight champion Gerry Penalosa and trainer Freddie Roach are confident of breaking the ubeaten streak of WBO super bantamweight champ Juan Manuel Lopez on April 25 in Puerto Rico. Penalosa is training with Roach at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, California.
Penalosa says that Roach's current camp with Manny Pacquiao has not caused any issues for his training time.
"I can fight tomorrow if necessary. So I feel good for what will be the most important fight of my career. Freddie is a demanding trainer and well disciplined. During the morning, he works with me with my preparation for the fight, and in the evening he works with Manny Pacquiao. That has worked very well so far and he will be in my corner. I feel confident that I can beat Lopez," Penalosa told Primera Hora.
Roach says Lopez is a pretty solid fighter, but he sees several weak points. He and Penalosa have a plan to exploit those weaknesses in the ring. He feels that if Penalosa survives the early rounds, he will have a much bigger chance to win as the fight goes on.
"Gerry has worked hard in the gym and we already have our plan for what is going to be a great fight," Roach said. "We know that Lopez is a guy who starts strong and fast. He doesn't have a lot of weaknesses, but we have seen several things and we will try to work on those during the fight."
"Lopez is going to come forward and be aggressive, so Gerry will have to use his experience. I have no doubt that as the rounds go on, Lopez will start to slow down and then we will get him."
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