EVEN if he is getting a patsy in his first title defense, world bantamweight champion Gerry Pe?alosa will still train aptly as if his next fight will be his last.
In an interview with a radio program yesterday, Pe?alosa revealed that he is mandated to defend his crown against No. 1 challenger Ratanachai Sor Vorapin of Thailand early next year.
?Kailangan ko munang sundin ang [World Boxing Organization] kasi mandatory challenger si Vorapin,? said Pe?alosa.
Pe?alosa, 35, was initially told that he will probably get his rematch against his last tormentor, current world super-bantamweight champion Daniel Ponce de Leon of Mexico, next year here in the Philippines. But the Puerto Rico-based WBO has informed the Filipino champion to fulfill his mandatory obligation first.
?Si Ponce de Leon talaga ang gusto ko at alam ko na kaya ko pa na makipagsabayan sa kanya,? said Pe?alosa.
Pe?alosa had beaten Vorapin before via sixth-round technical knockout when the Filipino fighter defended his World Boxing Council (WBC) international super-flyweight title November of 2000.
Despite not getting his fervent wish of a return bout with Ponce de Leon, Pe?alosa will still put on a rigorous training regimen at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood.
?Kahit tinalo ko na siya, No.1 siya sa ratings at maraming Pinoy siyang tinalo after our fight,? said Pe?alosa ?Hindi ako pwedeng magkumpiyansa kaya dapat complete pa din ang training ko.?
Pe?alosa said he will probably join his American trainer Freddie Roach on his way back to the US on December 20. Roach is planning to visit the country and join top ward Manny Pacquiao who will be celebrating his 29th birthday on December 17 in General Santos City.
?Kahit na hindi pa sigurado ang date mas mabuti na ?yung ready tayo. If ever, two weeks before the fight ako babalik dito,? said Pe?alosa.
Pe?alosa, who is currently in General Santos City, will arrive in Manila this weekend to work as an analyst for the upcoming WBC welterweight title fight between undefeated fighters Floyd Mayweather Jr. and British hero Ricky Hatton to be shown Sunday morning (Manila time) on ABS-CBN.
Golden Boy Promotions (GBP), who holds the promotional rights of Pe?alosa, is closely coordinating with television giant ABS-CBN in staging the fight here in Manila tentatively set on February 24.
?We?re working it out with Golden Boy and we?re really pushing for it. We have a wish list of other key fights to be included in the card but Pe?alosa?s fight will be the key fight,? said Peter Musngi, vice president of ABS-CBN Sports in a separate interview.
Musngi declined to divulge the other matchups included in the card. A reliable source, however, revealed that the other major fight GBP and ABS-CBN want to include in the card is the title eliminator bout between Z Gorres and Australian Vic Darchinyan.
Pe?alosa achieved history when he and his brother Dodie Boy Pe?alosa became the first Filipino siblings to win two world titles in a couple of divisions. The younger Pe?alosa once held the World Boxing Council super-flyweight belt while Dodie Boy reigned as IBF junior flyweight champion before he captured the International Boxing Federation flyweight crown during the 1980s.
Last August, Pe?alosa captured the world bantamweight tiara via a resounding seventh-round knockout win over Mexican Jhonny Gonzalez of Mexico during the second staging of the Boxing World Cup where Team Philippines dethroned Mexico via 5-1 verdict.
Before that, Pe?alosa lost a controversial 12-round verdict to Ponce de Leon in their WBO super-bantamweight title fight held last March in Las Vegas.
