GOLDEN BOY HAS GOOD BOXING AFTER DARK CARD Sacramento, CA- This Saturday, in the California state capital, Sacramento, seven bouts between Mexican and Filipino fighters will determine who will take home the ?World Cup? trophy. HBO?s Boxing After Dark will televise two title bouts, the first matching WBO 122 lb. king Daniel Ponce De Leon and #1 ranked Rey Bautista. The television curtain raiser pits WBO 118 lb. champ Jhonny Gonzalez against former 115 lb. king Gerry Penalosa. This will be the second time Golden Boy Promotions has hosted this ?World Cup? event. The first ?World Cup? matched Mexico, including both De Leon and Gonzalez, against Thailand?s top fighters.
CUP GIVES YOUNG FIGHTERS BIG TV EXPOSURE
One of the biggest problems in boxing has been the lack of superstars and exposure. Therefore, it takes some imaginative promotional concepts to draw fans and spectators who may not have been initially been interested in the fight card. In 2001, Don King hosted a middleweight (160) championship tournament. In the four-man tournament, Bernard Hopkins, Keith Holmes, William Joppy, and Felix Trinidad- Hopkins became known to the general public as middleweight champion. Recently, the reality show and contest, The Contender on NBC made household names of fighters like Alfonso Gomez, Steven Forbes, Peter Mandfredo Jr., and Sergio Mora?fighters who may have not had the exposure without the help of the series. The concept of the World Cup is to match elite fighters from two different countries to generate national pride and interest.
TITLE BOUTS SHOULD INTEREST ALL
Unless you are a Mexican or Filipino, the World Cup may not be your cup of tea. However, the two title bouts that headline the card appeal to every fan. In the main event, two young and hungry up and comers square off to be possibly being the next star in the lower weight class. The jr. featherweight (122) division was once home to Manny Pacquiao, Erik Morales, and Marco Antonio Barrera. Last weekend, the top two jr. feathers, Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez put forth another brutal encounter with Vasquez getting revenge, stopping Marquez in six. That fight should propel both boxers to a highly anticipated rubber rematch. Waiting in the wings, Daniel Ponce De Leon, 31-1 (28 KOs), and Rey Bautista (23-0 (17 KOs), hope to be next in line for either Marquez or Vasquez.
IS ?BOOM-BOOM? READY TO ASSUME THRONE?
For the past couple of years, Rey ?Boom Boom? Bautista has been considered the next Manny Pacquiao. At only 21, Bautista vies for his first title in the main event on an HBO televised event. Fighting most of his fights at 118, Bautista was last seen on the undercard of the Floyd Mayweather-Oscar De La Hoya against Sergio Manuel Medina. Bautista showed the talent and potential but also some inexperience, suffering a standing eight count as well as a one-point deduction for low blows.
LOTS OF PRESSURE ON BAUTISTA FOLKS
Even with the adversity, Bautista was able to score a later knockdown and solidifying his unanimous decision win. Bautista, who favors offense over defense a little too much, is heavy handed and can fight going forward and backward. The main concern for Bautista fans is can he handle the big stage and more importantly, handled the extreme punching power of Ponce De Leon.
LAST STAND FOR GREAT PENALOSA
The TV opener features Jhonny Gonzalez taking on ex-champ Gerry Penalosa. Gonzalez is coming off a very impressive outing against another former champion in Irene Pacheco. Gonzalez, 34-5 (29 KOs), showed no signs of slippage after a grueling war and a loss against Israel Vazquez last September. The tall boxer-puncher manhandled the ex-flyweight (112) champion Pacheco by stopping him in nine rounds. For Penalosa, 51-6 (34 KOs), he impressed many ringsiders in defeat against De Leon last March.
JHONNY LIGHTER HITTER THAN PONCE
The 34-year-old made the overly aggressive bomber De Leon, run and pity-patt his way to a unanimous decision. Penalosa, a champion at 115lbs, will come down from 122, where he fought De Leon, to try and win another title belt. Reports from the Philippines suggest that win or lose; Penalosa will retire after his fight Saturday.
HIT & RUN BEATS PENALOSA 9 OF 10 TIMES
Five of Penalosa six losses were via decision in world title bouts?with three coming by way of a split duke. All of the losses were considered debatable at the very least. In each, Penalosa could not find and catch his much taller opponents, who simply used the jab and ran. Penalosa has found most of his success when his opponents came to him and were willing to brawl inside. Jhonny Gonzalez has the talent and skill to box and slug. What could be a factor in this (and all the fights) will be the crowd environment. A large and passionate crowd of both Mexican and Filipino fight fans may encourage either boxer to stand and trade.
NON-TV FIGHTS HAVE BANAL & MAYBE GORRES
In addition to the two title fights, five other bouts will take place on the non-televised portion of the show. A fighter looking to have an impressive showing is 18-year-old Alex John Banal. A.J is the newest and hottest prospect that has been making waves throughout the Philippines. Banal, 13-0 (10 KOs), last saw action on the undercard of the Mayweather-De La Hoya fight, winning an eight round decision. He will see action against ?Undecided Ed? as this goes to print because his original opponent Eric Ortiz will now fight Z Gorres.
EYE ISSUE COULD NOT SIDELINE GORRES
Looking to bounce back from a disappointing loss in a title bid, Z Gorres is scheduled to face tough veteran, Gerson Guerrero. At 26-2-1 (14 KOs), Gorrres was favored to defeat Fernando Montiel last February because the fight took place his backyard. However, a late surge by the champion was enough for Montiel to earn a disputed decision. Besides being a former light flyweight (108) titlist, Ortiz at 26-6 (17 KOs), is most known for getting knocked out by one punch in the first round against Brian Viloria. Ortiz will make a big leap two divisions from 108 to 115 lbs. Gorres was close to being sidelined due to an eye injury but was cleared to fight yesterday. In an odd turn of events, according to Salven L. Lagumbay of PhilBoxing.com, his original opponent Gerson Gurerro, was not medically cleared because of an eye injury.
PHILIPPINES HAS A SHOT TO UPSET MEXICO
The other fights include: light flyweights (108) Bert Batawang, 50-6 (34 KOs), vs. Gerardo Verde 15-4 (11 KOs); super featherweights (130) Michael Domingo (31-14-2, 12 KOs) vs. Miguel Roman (22-0, 16 KOs); and bantamweights (118) Diosdado Gabi (29-3-1, 21 KOs) vs. Jose Angel Beranza (30-9-2, 25 KOs). Team Philippines, the young underdog group, have all lived and trained together at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles under Freddie Roach and Filipino trainer Edito ?Ala? Villamor for over two months now. Leave your predictions for the World Cup in the comments section below.
DID YOU CATCH ?RING TALK RADIO? YET?
We did a seven minute piece that was produced by Fox Sports, that laid out the ?No Mas? fight between ?Sugar Ray? Leonard and Roberto Duran. It is about as ?revealing? as it gets, as Duran, Leonard and others bring you back to 1980. Other guests included IBF 140 lb. king Paul Malignaggi, Andre Ward, and baseball great Pete Rose. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN NOW!
