Two top-of-the-line Filipino fighters are up against livewire opponents on Aug. 11 at the Arco Arena in Sacramento, California. This was the feeling of ace trainer Freddie Roach when asked about his sentiment about two fights involving super-bantamweight Rey ‘Boom Boom’ Bautista and Gerry Penalosa.
Bautista, 20, challenges Mexican Daniel Ponce De Leon for the World Boxing Organization (WBO) super-bantam throne in the main event, while Penalosa shoots to knock the WBO bantam crown off Johnny Gonzalez’s head in the main undercard bout.
“(This is a) very tough fight. Rey has to make some adjustments to box this guy a little bit more instead of just trying to kill him with every punch. He (Ponce De Leon) has good power and it’s a dangerous fight (for Bautista),” Roach told the Manila Bulletin in an interview last Monday at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, California.
“Rey need not be so anxious. We just can’t get caught coming in just like what he did in the last fight. This is a winnable fight but Boom Boom is ready for this fight although it is going to be a tough fight.” The same things goes with Penalosa’s showdown with Gonzalez, said Roach.
“Johnny Gonzalez is a strong guy and he’s kind of big but he has trouble making bantamweight (118 lbs) and he is much stronger at 122 lbs (super-bantamweight) than he is at 118.”
“The thing is Gerry’s a great boxer but we just have to make Gerry a bit more active. He’s great defensively, moves well, but he just needs more offense because if he had a little bit more offense in that last fight (against Ponce De Leon), he would have won that fight.”
“I am excited about this fight and this is an opportunity for Gerry to win a world title late in his career and I think we can this fight also,” said Roach, who also trains Manny Pacquiao and Bernard Hopkins.
Undefeated super-fly AJ Banal, who also fights under Tony Aldeguer’s high-end stable based in Cebu, also is a part of the World Cup being staged by by Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions (GBP).
“He’s okay. He’s talented and he’s a good kid. He needs like eight to ten more fights (before fighting for a world title),” said Roach of Banal, who will make his second fight on US soil after making a splash last May 5. Roach said he was looking forward to going to Cebu for the World Cup and was a bit disappointed that it had to be moved to Sacramento. “It would have been a great event in Cebu and I am sure there would have been a big crowd,” said Roach.
Making sure the World Cup turns out to to be a knockout hit are the full participation in the promotion of Aldeguer, Sammy Gello-ani of SGG Promotions of the Queen City of the South as well as hands-on GBP officials Richard Schaefer and Eric Gomez.
