Slowly but surely, Gerry Pe?alosa brought down Thai challenger Ratanachai Sor Vorapin yesterday, kept his WBO bantamweight crown and drew a perfect 10 from his American mentor Freddie Roach.
Fighting before his cheering countrymen, the 35-year-old Pe?alosa turned Sor Vorapin?s head and body into a virtual punching bag before scoring the knockout at the 2:31mark of the eighth round.
A good right uppercut by Pe?alosa brought the 31-year-old Sor Vorapin down for the first time. He got up, took a few more shots and was on his feet when referee Gino Rodriguez stepped in to stop the fight.
It looked like a premature stoppage, but Sor Vorapin has taken a lot of hits all throughout the fight and a knockout, it seemed, was bound to happen anyway.
The scattered crowd cheered louder the moment the fight was stopped. There was no doubt that the Filipino southpaw was the better fighter, the one in command throughout the scheduled 12-rounder.
Manny Pacquiao, the reigning WBC super-featherweight champion, got up quickly from his ringside seat, shook the hands of Pe?alosa and joined the mild celebration on top of the ring.
?He was tough. He wanted the win. But I wanted to win, too. I didn?t want to be humiliated in front of my countrymen,? said Pe?alosa over the microphone, just moments after the win.
Then he challenged Daniel Ponce de Leon, the reigning WBO super-bantamweight champion who is all set to defend his crown against Juan Manuel Lopez on June 6.
?I want him. I want the fighter who defeated Boom Boom (Bautista),? said Pe?alosa. It was his first defense of the title he won over Jhonny Gonzales late last year in Sacramento.
Later on, he asked Bautista to give him the chance to fight de Leon first.
?Rey! (Bautista) Mauna muna ako ha (Let me go first) I?m not getting any younger. Please. Give me a chance,? said Pe?alosa as Bautista, only 21 years old, smiled in approval.
Bautista won in the undercard, knocking out Mexico?s Genaro Camargo in the second round. Also winning was AJ Banal who stopped Uruguay?s Caril Herrera in the fourth, and Ciso Morales who downed Korea?s Yoo Shin Kim in the fifth.
Roach, barely hours after flying in from Los Angeles, manned Pe?alosa?s corner. He liked was he saw.
?I felt beautiful. He has great technique and very good defense. I felt he could have taken the guy out earlier but he took his time. So, I told him ?Gerry let?s take this guy out before something happens or we get cut or something,?? said Roach.
Asked to rate his fighter, he said, ?Ten.?
In each of the earlier rounds, Pe?alosa had Vorapin in trouble, particularly in the fourth where he went for the kill. But the Thai, who swung wildly at the champion, grappled until the bell sounded.
In the fifth, Sor Vorapin was once again on the verge of a knockdown but still got away with his grappling moves. In the sixth and seventh rounds, it stayed that way, with the Filipino going for the kill.
Pe?alosa was way ahead on all scorecards when the end finally came.
At the post-fight press conference, more than an hour after the fight, Sor Vorapin?s face looked like a Halloween mask despite the absence of cuts. Pe?alosa looked fresh despite a bruise on the bridge of his nose.
They sat beside each other, and Pe?alosa, looking at Sor Vorapin, said ?Sorry. Now, we?re friends.?
The Thai challenger, who also lost to Pe?alosa inside six rounds in 2000, offered no excuses for the loss, saying, through an interpreter, ?I failed to bring the title back to Thailand but I?m happy to be given the chance.?
Pe?alosa said Vorapin hurt him a couple of times, too, in the second and fifth rounds.
?Yes. Many times. But it?s okay. If you want to win you have to take them,? said the champion who wants to fight two or three more times before hanging up his gloves.
He evaded a question regarding his purse, saying, ?The BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue) is listening.?
?Gerry is at the tailend of his career. And he wants to go out with a bang. He wants the big names. He wants de Leon or Rafael Marquez,? said Eric Gomez of Golden Boy, which promotes Pe?alosa.
