Penalosa to face De Leon on UC of MB/JMM fight

http://www.boxingconfidential.com/articles.php?id=396 BOXING CONFIDENTIAL EXCLUSIVE: PENALOSA TO CHALLENGE WBO KING PONCE DE LEON ON MARCH 17 Salven L. Lagumbay 1/29/2007 After declaring that styles make fights, former world champion Gerry Penalosa has accepted an offer to fight World Boxing Organization (WBO) superbantam king Daniel Ponce De Leon on March 17 as the chief support to the Marco Antonio Barrera-Juan Manuel Marquez showdown at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. The match-up pits the southpaw Penalosa (51-5-2, 34 KO's) against fellow southpaw Ponce De Leon (30-1, 28 KO's) in what will be a showdown between two heavy-handed gladiators. The fight will be included in the pay-per-view telecast of the card dubbed 'Fearless' by promoter Oscar De La Hoya. In an exclusive interview yesterday, Penalosa said he will fly to Los Angeles alone on Sunday to sign the fight contract that will allow him to challenge Ponce De Leon, and will then buckle down to work to continue his training at his trainer/manager Freddie Roach's Wild Card Gym. Set to follow him are his brother/trainer Jonathan and boxer Michael Farenas, who might also be given a slot in the card, if the duo will be given US visa in time for the event. Penalosa has already begun training at his home gym in Paranaque, and is getting much-needed sparring against top-ranked featherweight Michael Farenas and a boxer named Alco. According to Penalosa, Oscar De la Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions will formally announce his fight with Ponce de Leon soon after he signs the fight contract. Earlier, Roach had asked Penalosa to take on Daniel Ponce De Leon someday, pointing out that the latter cannot win against Penalosa's style. "One day, coach Freddie approached me in Texas after me and Ponce fought separate opponents. Then he told me, pointing to Ponce, 'I want you to fight that guy. You can win,' so I am now taking the gamble as I am not getting any younger," said the 34-year-old southpaw. A gamble it would be for Penalosa, as Ponce De Leon is the naturally bigger guy who has campaigned extensively in the 122-lb division, while Penalosa's comfortable weight is only at 118 lbs. "I have consulted out of respect very honorable people like my former managers Antonio Aldeguer and Rudy Salud, and they both agree I should not take the fight because Ponce De Leon is too big. I truly admire their honesty and genuine concern for me," said Penalosa. "But as a man, I have to make my final decision. And I have decided to fight him because I'm not getting any younger, and I know that my style can beat his style although he is big," pointed out the former WBC superfly champion. "But I'm not worried. I'm used to sparring against much bigger guys in the gym." "I know Ponce De Leon has a very unorthodox style, and he doesn't run. So he is highly tailor-made for me. However, if I win the crown with God's blessings, I will not stay in the 122-lb division, I will still have to move down to 118 lbs," added Penalosa.

Comments (5)

Would have been different if it was Gerry's prime. But goodluck! True, Gerry became the champion 10 years ago in 1997, He looked way different if anyone thinks Gerry is good today they should of seen him back then I saw a bunch of his classics on Azteca America classics. He had good speed and good strength mixed together well, Gerry was like a python. Even though Gerry is'nt the same this should still be a good fight.

19y ago

flipside

aldeguer was againts this fight but roach wanted gerry to go for it roach thinks ponce is perfect for gerry :D

19y ago

ELPacman

gerry is not as heavy-handed as he used to be. he came out of retirement and it will be a good statement if he beats ponce. Funny you should say that. He looked really strong against Martinez in his last fight where nobody expected him to have more power than Martinez. While I don't think at all he'll have the power advantage over Ponce De Leon in the fight, he'll definitely be the technical and more experienced of the two. He can make Ponce De Leon look like an amatuer the way he throws those wild shots although they are also hard to get out of the way of. If Penalosa gets caught with one and is still standing, that'll prolly decide the outcome of the fight because I don't see Leon outboxing Gerry at all. :boxing:

19y ago

Papa_Ace

gerry is not as heavy-handed as he used to be. he came out of retirement and it will be a good statement if he beats ponce.

19y ago

richarddam

i believe gerry has what it takes to beat ponce deleon, a lot of people around the boxing world still have'nt watched gerry's true potential, ever since i first saw penalosa's fights(roughly more than a decade ago), iv'e never seen him get tagged by a clean punch, take a look at his record, 4 of his 5 losses came from 2 boxers(in-joo-cho;masamori tokuyama,these 2 boxers share mirror images of each other, both of them are tall stick & dance fighters) this is the type of boxers gerry should avoid figthing, because gerry's achilles heel is lack of aggression, but give him an aggressive wild swinging puncher, gerry will have no problem, yeah, i believe in the saying "styles makes fights" ponce de leon's style is indeed tailor-made for gerry's style, & besides judging from his last performance(ko9 mauricio martinez), gerry exhibited more pop in his punches, if this fight(deleon-penalosa) push thru, i see gerry blocking each haymakers thrown by deleon, & eventually gerry will breakdeleon down bit by bit, gerry penalosa by tko 10

19y ago