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WORLD
super-bantamweight champion Daniel Ponce de Leon
insisted on his willingness to defend his crown against
world bantamweight ruler Gerry Peñalosa here in the
Philippines.
In an
interview on dzSR’s Sports Chat Thursday morning, de
Leon said that, at the moment, he is focused on his
upcoming title defense against an undefeated Puerto
Rican campaigner this June.
But he
stressed he is already thinking about fighting Peñalosa
after his upcoming mandatory title defense.
“I want
to fight in the
Philippines
and face their best fighters or whoever is the
attractive fight in the Philippines. Peñalosa said he
wants a rematch, and I’m willing to do it,” said de Leon
through interpreter and manager Joe Hernandez.
In the
same interview, de Leon said even a rematch with
one-time foe Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista is something that
will entice him to strut his wares in the country. Last
August de Leon stopped Bautista in the first round in a
World Boxing Organization (WBO) title fight at the Arco
Arena in Sacramento, California.
Hernandez said de Leon (34-1, 30 knockouts) was also
lucky he hit Bautista with a well-timed punch in their
fight and that a rematch with Bautista is still a
possibility.
De Leon,
27, will defend his WBO super-bantamweight belt against
Juan Manuel Lopez of Puerto Rico on June 7 at the
Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Told
that he was probably not in the best possible shape when
he fought Peñalosa, de Leon said he trains diligently
for each and every fight.
“Our
fault is that we underestimated Peñalosa. People were
saying he was over-the-hill, that he was smaller and is
an old fighter but he proved to be a really tough
opponent,” said Hernandez, who also dabbles as de Leon’s
trainer.
The
35-year-old Penalosa (53-6-2, 36 knockouts), in his
first ever fight at 122-lbs, lost a 12-round unanimous
decision to De Leon by a wide margin on all three
scorecards.
Penalosa,
meanwhile, is seriously considering an offer for him to
defend his belt beneath the upcoming battle between
former champions Shane Mosley and Zab Judah on May 31 at
the
Mandalay
Bay
in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Everything, however, depends on what doctors will advice
Penalosa as the two-division champion’s right elbow and
knuckles continue to hurt. He sustained the injuries
during his sparring session with former world champion
Kevin Kelley in Las Vegas more than a month before his
successful title defense against Thai Ratanachai Sor
Vorapin two weeks ago at the Araneta Coliseum.
Yesterday afternoon Penalosa was scheduled to get a firm
prognosis of his injury from his doctor.
“If the
doctor tells me I need to rest for more than a week I
would rather skip that May 31 fight,” said Penalosa.
In an
overseas interview Penalosa’s American manager Billy
Keane said there is no truth to reports that undefeated
Mexican bantamweight prospect Abner Mares will be the
Filipino champion’s May 31 foe.
“No name
has been mentioned. Mares may eventually be Gerry’s
mandatory challenger because he is highly rated by the
WBO but he won’t definitely fight Gerry this May,” said
Keane. |
