Daniel Ponce de Leon, the current WBO jr. featherweight titlist, takes on the challenge of Gerry Penalosa this Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas as one of the supporting bouts of the pay-per-view card featuring Marco Antonio Barrera’s battle versus Juan Manuel Marquez.
This bout is the archetypical bout in boxing that has been played out many times before – The young champion hoping to build his resume against the grizzled, experienced former titlist who is usually moving up in weight, past his physical prime.
And while the two are so far apart in many ways, as they prepared for this contest, they were separated by a mere ten miles.
On Friday, March 9, just eight days till the fight, at 11:12 am, Penalosa, as is his custom, would roll in with countryman Diosabi Gabi, a flyweight who will participate in the non-televised portion of Saturday night’s card.
Unlike the glitz and glamour that awaits Manny Pacquiao at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, California, Penalosa walks in with no fanfare. The 34-year old southpaw, who began his storied career in 1989 (and has a current record of 51-5-2, 34 KOs), won the WBC super flyweight title in 1997 by taking a split decision in Japan against Hiroshi Kawashima. Five bouts later he would lose the crown to South Korean In Joo Cho via split decision in Korea. Two bouts later he would lose another split verdict in Korea. In 2001, he would lose a close unanimous decision to Masamori Tokuyama for the same WBC belt. A year later, he would come up short again for that WBC title by dropping another decision (this time, split) in Japan, after which he’d leave the ring for two years.
Penalosa, like Pacquiao, is a quick-hitting, accurate and entertaining southpaw. But unfortunately he toiled in Asia during those days and fought B.P. – Before Pacquiao. And therefore, unlike Rey Bautista and other Pinoys who followed in the footsteps of ‘the Pac Man’, Penalosa, to the outside world, is largely a footnote.
That’s the price of being a trailblazer.
“Yeah, absolutely,” said Billy Keane, who co-manages Penalosa with Freddie Roach. “The thing about Gerry is, Freddie feels that Gerry is technically the greatest boxer to ever come out of the Philippines in the history of boxing. He did come around at the wrong time, and he is a very big name in the Philippines, but people haven’t discovered him yet here. The thing about Gerry is, I think his career has defied common logic. He took two years off after he lost his title fight. His father died a week before the fight, he had to take care of his family obligations.
“The years off really did Gerry well. He’s fighting a lot better now at the higher weights, settling down on his punches and he looks much better now than he’s looked in probably five, six, years.”
After his second close defeat to Tokuyama in December of 2002, he wouldn’t return to the ring until September of 2004, where he would stop Samingkao Chutipol. Since then he has reeled off four more wins, the most recent being an eight round drubbing of Mauricio Martinez last October in El Paso, Texas.
He has settled in nicely between 118-122 pounds.
“115 he couldn’t do anymore,” said Keane. “118 was still possible for him but he’s very comfortable at this weight. And when you see him and Ponce side-by-side, Ponce’s not physically bigger than him. They’re the same size.”
On this day he would go through 12 rounds of sparring, the last six being a very spirited affair with veteran tough guy Julio ‘Yambito’ Gamboa. You can see the wide variety of Penalosa’s skills. The fast hands, sharp combinations and clever footwork. There’s no doubt, while he may not have the un-nerving power of Pacquiao, fundamentally he is sounder in many respects.
And more importantly, he looks fresh. He looks as young as a 34-year old ‘small’ fighter can look.
“I feel comfortable,” Penalosa would tell Maxboxing after his day’s work was finished. “I really like Wild Card, I really like the team. So I feel very comfortable.” And going up in weight was very much a welcomed occurrence. “I like this,” he would say. “I feel I have more power. That’s what I feel right now. I don’t need to lose weight, I feel fully loaded.”
Training him for this bout is Roach’s top assistant, Justine Fortune, who has the run of the place while Roach trains Oscar De La Hoya in Puerto Rico for the next few months.
“He’s got a lot left, he’s very, very fit and he’s very slick,” he says of Penalosa. “He’s going to catch him, especially someone like Ponce de Leon, who’s wild. He’s strong and fit, but Gerry’s also very fit and it’s hard to land a clean shot on Gerry.”
What Fortune – who is in charge of physical conditioning for all of the Wild Card boxers – seems to really appreciate about this Filipino is that he dutifully comes to the gym each day as promised.
“He’s a lot more serious, a lot quieter,” said Fortune, in contrasting him to the atmosphere brought by Pacquiao. “Obviously, he’s not as famous as Manny,” who has delayed his return to the gym several times with an April 14th fight pending against Jorge Solis. “I know where he is,” he says of Penalosa. “He always shows up on time, too.”
Unlike Pacquiao, Penalosa is very much no-frills and low maintenance. Manny may be a rock-star. This guy is a construction worker trying to put the finishing touches on his career.
“Gerry is a dream fighter in a sense that, first of all, everything he does is 100-percent,” said Keane. “He’s on time, you don’t have to baby-sit him, he lives a very clean lifestyle, he’s constantly in the gym even when he’s not fighting. Gerry trains like a four-round fighter. He doesn’t just train for his fights, he’s constantly running, constantly in the gym and he’s really, really a dream to work with. And he’s a really nice kid.”
When they were offered this fight, they didn’t hesitate.
“We jumped at this fight because Ponce’s style is perfect for Gerry,” Keane would say. “It’s just the right style for Gerry. Ponce will not be able to hit Gerry. Gerry will out-box Ponce and I believe he’ll knock Ponce out late in the fight. So it was an easy decision for us to make.”
In the past when Fortune has seen Ponce, whether in a real fight or sparring at the Wild Card, he would almost break down giggling at the lack of technical skill he witnessed from him. It astonishes him that Ponce de Leon has a major world title around his waist.
He at least admires his toughness though, right?
“I’ve never admired his toughness and there’s no skill,” he would say dismissively. “When I first saw Ponce I was like, ‘My God, how the hell did you become world champion?’ Seriously. But he is what he is and he’s tough and that but I think Penalosa just wears him down. He hits from all angles and he’s so slick. But the thing is, you frustrate Ponce, you’ll win the fight.”
As for the discrepancies in age and natural size, which seem to favor the defending champion, Fortune is not overly concerned.
“Not really,” he says, “Ponce is younger, obviously, if they were the same level, yeah, the age is definitely going to beat you. But like I said, Ponce is very unconventional, very wide, easy to hit and Gerry’s so slick. It’ll make it a good fight. He’s coming to the end of his career, sure, that’s why he wants to pick this title up so he can finish on top.”
Penalosa would say of his foe: “He’s good. You can not be a champion if you’re not good. He’s OK, but compared to other champions, he’s just another champion.”
And in the twilight of his career, Penalosa looks to gain the plaudits that eluded him in the past and to fulfill the American dream.
“That’s what I want, that’s what I need. I fought many times in my country, Asian countries, but I wasn’t given a chance to fight in the USA. This time, I’m excited because I know the whole world will be watching this fight.”
Win, lose or draw, this isn’t necessarily his swan song.
“No, I have so many plans. I want to fight the best,” he states. “So Ponce is one of the best. There are more out there. So I have to beat the best to fight the other best.”
By one o’clock, Penalosa is finished.
Going south on the 101 and taking Santa Fe Ave. for a mile-and-half, in the heart of Vernon, an industrial city near Los Angeles, at 1:40 you see Ponce de Leon, getting ready for his day’s work inside his advisor’s (Joe Hernandez) gym which is located in the rear of his fabric factory on 48th Street.
As Hernandez’s workers cut material and cloth for various projects, Ponce de Leon plies his craft. Hernandez wouldn’t get to his gym – which he recently expanded by gutting his office – until a quarter-after-two as he was tending to a doctor’s appointment. By that time, Ponce de Leon was already deep into his day’s work. Unlike Penalosa, his Friday would be devoted to floor work and a session on the mitts.
To accurately describe Ponce de Leon’s style, you’d have to say he actually has no style or technique. Willie Pep, he’s not. When he was taught this game, the textbook must’ve been thrown away. He punches from all angles – except straight. His shadowboxing looks like a melding of poppin-n’-locking and tai chi. He even throws double-punches, where both fists are thrust forward simultaneously. In looking at him, he looks more like a tough vato off the street getting his daily sweat on than a guy with a major world title.
But he gets results.
Currently his record is 30-1, with 28 stoppages. His one loss would be a 12-round slugfest with Celestino Cabellero (who is now the highly respected WBA titlist in the same weight class) in February of 2005. But two fights later, in October of that same year, he would win the vacant WBO title by decisioning Sod Looknongyangtoy in Tucson, Arizona. After blowing out late-replacement Gerson Guerrero last May, he would then rematch with the Thai on the undercard of the rematch between Shane Mosley and Fernando Vargas.
And with one thunderbolt left hand (which, by the way, was actually a straight left cross) he would put Sod on the LOOK OUT!!! Stopping Looknongyangtoy in less than two minutes in what was widely considered the ‘Knockout of the Year’ by many pundits.
But still, from many media members and television executives, he can’t seem to get any respect. Which is the reason why he has never headlined or appeared on an HBO or Showtime card, but instead has been relegated to undercard status on pay-per-view shows as a champion.
Hernandez, who is his staunchest supporter and most vigorous defender (at the same time, believe it or not), admits that they are still fighting for recognition.
“Oh, definitely, so, I think not only do we think it, but the whole world will agree – plus the media and the fans – Ponce hasn’t really performed or executed to the level of competition that we feel we should be at. I mean, we really haven’t performed yet. But I think there’s improvement being made in the last three fights, as you well saw, the spectacular KO, the other fights where it didn’t look great, as far as talent or God-given talent is concerned. But he’s got something going that a lot of fighters are lacking, that is strength, conditioning and power.
“Now, I think what we have to do in this particular fight is look impressive in order to bring the press and the media to really understand that, yes, this is going to be a tremendous, great fighter.”
As he hits the pads, one thing is clear, this 26-year old can kick like a mule. The sound of his punches hitting the mitts resonates off the walls of the small gym. He may have some holes in his swing (as they say in baseball) but once he makes contact, you feel it.
After his one-round stoppage of Looknongyangtoy, he would face Al Seeger in October on the very same bill that Penalosa would perform on. He didn’t so much knock out the slick-boxing Al Seeger in eight, as much as he bludgeoned and clubbed him like a baby seal. Technically, he went backwards on this night, as he reverted back to much of his prior form that has drawn so much criticism.
“Definitely so,” agreed Hernandez, “not a little, a lot backward. Here we had a young man with so much talent but it was a fight I really didn’t agree with, the styles. And I objected with the promoters. We informed them that we really didn’t want the fight. Not because we couldn’t beat Seeger, we mentioned that in a few interviews we felt that he would give us problems. And we saw Ponce go out there and it was like two girls in public elementary school going at it in the back to see who’s better. It was a slapping affair. But it was an experience that I made Ponce understand that unless we perform better from here on in, we’re not going to get any recognition from anybody.”
Bottom line, he needs to win – with style points.
“I think that he’s going to have to come in and perform, he’s going to have to show himself to the press, the media and the networks, that he’s a smart fighter. My predictions in the past have come through because he’s a smart fighter and when I feel he’s going to look bad, I think I tell you beforehand. I say, ‘Stevie, this is not our fight.’ It just so happens that for this particular fight, I know.”
‘The Puerto Rican’ as Hernandez calls himself (because, well, he’s Puerto Rican) always seems to have a bead on his fighters biorhythms. He forecasted an early knockout of the Thai last summer. And he was similarly concerned about the Seeger fight in the fall. And when this writer tells him that Penalosa will pose problems, he perks up.
“There’s a lot of boxing writers out there, including Maxboxing, Steve Kim, and others, I just want you to know, I want you to understand, Ponce is a very dominating fighter, he’s a young man that’s really learning his trade. He’s learning, he’s not going to be no Sugar Ray Leonard, he’s not going to be into ‘the sweet science’ of being a scientific boxer. His improvement is 300-percent.
“This is an easy fight, gentlemen. Yes, this is going to be a devastating win for Ponce. He’s going to look better. I’m not saying he’s not going to throw from left-field, which he’s not, he’s going to throw punches from the pitcher’s mound or from second-base- we’re getting close. But the thing is, I think it’s an easy fight. I think that styles make fights. Penalosa is an ex-champion at 115, I think he’s naturally smaller. I think Ponce’s too big, too strong, too aggressive. Ponce’s punching power will destroy. His mission for this particular fight is to destroy him. He’s going to stop him, which I think he will; he’s going to have a sensational knockout.”
Hernandez says his fighter understands the need for more aesthetically pleasing performances.
“I think it’s at the point where he’s finding out, ‘We’re not getting any calls.’ We’re getting neglected by the promoters on account of the networks not being interested. So he’s becoming a little more understanding now. I think that finally it’s sinking in, for the networks to come up with dates and get X-amount of dollars, you’re going to have to look better than what you normally do.
“So yes, he’s understanding that and you will see that on March 17th.”
PONCE DE LA DANGERFIELD
On Monday afternoon at a press conference at Olvera St. in Los Angeles to promote this event, as all the fighters, managers and trainers had been introduced to say a few words, it dawned on Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions matchmaker, that he had completely forgotten about Ponce de Leon.
Eventually, before Barrera and Marquez were made available for one-on-one’s, Gomez would save the day by bringing him up to say a few words. Ponce de Leon even broke out some English, which was pretty impressive. For as hard-hitting as he is inside the ring, he is as soft-spoken out of it.
Gomez, who put together this undercard, says of Ponce de Leon-Penalosa: “It’s an old saying in boxing – and it’s true to this day-‘ styles make fights.’ Gerry has the style to beat Ponce. He’s a veteran, he’s very crafty, he looked very good in his last fight when he knocked out Mauricio Martinez. He’s ready. He’s going to give him a tough fight.
“Ponce, you never know what you’re going to get with Ponce. Ponce is the type of fighter that anybody can beat him, but then he can beat anybody. So you never know. It makes for an intriguing fight.
“I think it has the potential to be the fight of the night.”
