Gerry Pe?alosa served strong notice to the world's leading bantamweights, especially Rafael Marquez, as he easily defeated Paraguay's Dario Azuaga with a shutout unanimous decision after their 10-round duel topbilling the "Rage in December" card at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City last night.
Judges Salvador Lopez, Ricardo Canlas and Capt. Ramon Flores all scored the bout 100-88 in favor of Penalosa, who barely showed any signs of his one-year inactivity.
Pe?alosa immediately took the initiative right at the get-go, winning the early rounds before the southpaw ex-WBC champ exploded in the sixth, sending Azuaga in dire straits that had the visitor on rubbery legs.
Pe?alosa again sent down Azuaga in the 8th and 9th rounds, but the foreigner, after beating referee Vir Abainza's count, managed to escape an imminent knockout defeat by riding on his bicycle everytime Penalosa went in for the kill.
"Azuaga was so groggy when he went down, but he would recover right away," said Penalosa's close buddy and OPBF bantam king Malcolm Tu?acao, who watched at ringside. "But after he got a taste of Gerry's power, Azuaga kept on running and running. Very scared," added Tu?acao.
"It was an excellent performance by Gerry tonight. He looked so relaxed out there," shared GAB's Tony Comia, who was also at ringside.
The win improved Pe?alosa's record to 49 wins, 5 losses,2 draws, and 33 KO's.
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