The main headers of the World Cup of Boxing gave out contrasting results for the Philippine team as Gerry Peñalosa grabbed the WBO bantamweight crown while Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista suffered his first loss.
The 35-year-old Peñalosa became world champ again by knocking the wind out of Jhonny Gonzales during the co-feature of the World Cup: Philippine vs. Mexico” tourney at the Arco Arena in Sacramento, California Saturday night (Sunday morning in Manila).
Peñalosa (52-6-2, 35 KOs) decked Gonzales (34-6, 29 KOs) with a left hook at the ribcage, ending the fight at 2:45 in Round 7.
The Filipino ruled the first three rounds, throwing several body and head shots against the Mexican.
The taller Gonzales found its range on Round 4, pacing Peñalosa with jabs and upper cuts in the next two rounds.
The Filipino’s counter punching, however, sent the Mexican to its knees at the seventh, prompting the referee to stop the fight.
It was a sweet victory for the aging boxing veteran, who first became a world champion in 1997 after beating Hiroshi Kawashima for WBC super flyweight crown.
Peñalosa’s win also gave Team Philippines its fifth win at the World Cup.
Nightmare after dream win
The main feature, however, turned out to be a nightmare for the Filipinos as WBO super bantamweight king Daniel Ponce De Leon twice knocked down previously unbeaten challenger Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista.
It was a heart-breaking loss for the young Bautista, who was hailed as the next “Manny Pacquiao.”
De Leon (32-1, 29 KOs) flashed Bautista (23-1, 17 KOs) a hard left that sent the Filipino wobbling to the canvas.
The gritty Mexican then threw a one-two combo that sent the Filipino to his second knock down, effectively ending the fight at 2:30 of Round 1.
De Leon retained his crown and earned a vindication for his fellow Mexicans, who suffered a 5-1 loss at the World Cup of Boxing.
‘4-0′
Z “The Dream” Gorres (27-2-1, 15 KOs) won win number four for the Philippines when he scored a TKO over Eric Ortiz (26-7-1, 17 KOs) to grab the IBF junior bantamweight Intercontinental title.
The referee stopped the fight at Round 8 when Ortiz already had a big swelling at the right forehead at 2:15.
AJ “Bazooka” Banal (14-0-1, 11 KOs) scored the third win for the Filipinos by beating Jorge Cardenas (9-4-3, 6 KOs) in Sacramento, California.
Banal kept his record unblemished by knocking down Cardenas in Round 3.
The Mexican twisted his right ankle while going down, prompting the referee to stop the fight with 0:28 seconds left at the third round.
The Filipinos also dominated the Mexicans during the first two fights with Michael Domingo (32-14-2, 12 KOs) and Diosdado Gabi (30-3-1, 21 KOs) scoring wins over their opponents via unanimous decisions.
Domingo had it 60-54 in all score cards to beat Miguel Roman (21-1, 15 KOs) while Gabi churned out a straight 80-72 against Jose Angel Beranza (30-10-2, 25 KOs).
Dela Hoya to bring trophy
ABS-CBN correspondent Dyan Castillejo, meanwhile, reported that no less than the “Golden Boy” himself, Oscar dela Hoya, will bring the $500,000 World Cup trophy to the Philippines.
Reports also said that dela Hoya, the tourney’s organizer, plans to bring the trophy to Manila next month and will personally present it to President Arroyo at Malacañang.
Source: ABS CBN News
The Pangasinan State University (PSU) is one of the luckiest SUC’s in the country among the six SUC’s who had been selected to put up a call center in the university premises. The call center is a joint project of PSU and Commision on Higher Education. The project will launch its first batch on September, accomodating 30 lucky trainees from the different components of the university.
Among the chosen schools are Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Technological University of the Philippines, Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University, Tarlac State Universtiy, and Laguna State University.
Interested applicants may submit their resume to the Student Coordinator of any PSU campus nearest to their location.
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