Philippines, 07 Sep 2025
  Home >> News

 


BOXERS

CURRENT CHAMPIONS 

FORMER CHAMPIONS   

RATINGS                       

NEWS           

FORUM        

FIGHT GALLERIES        

RING CARD GIRLS        


 
 
News  


JUAN MANUEL LOPEZ - BRILLIANT, DYNAMIC AND STRONGER, BUT LESS SENSATIONAL AND LESS IMPRESSIVE


PhilBoxing.com


SIDE BAR COMMENTARY - No doubt, Juan Manuel Lopez (25-0, 23 knockouts) brutally punished the old, rugged Gerry Penalosa at every angle. But, he was unsuccessful in his bid. His intent was to knock out the Filipino fighter in one of the early rounds in their supposed to be 12-round of boxing for the WBO Super Bantamweight Championship in his own hometown before the raucous crowd at the Coliseo Ruben Rodriguez in Bayamon, Puerto Rico last Saturday.

Yes, it was aborted after the ninth on account of Penalosa's trainer, Freddie Roach, bidding true to his statement he spelled out to his fighter beforehand that if Penalosa 'can't knock out' Lopez thereafter, then he 'will stop the fight'.

But, even after twenty-seven minutes of absorbing four hundred forty-four punches to the body and upstairs combined, Penalosa (54-7-2, 36 knockouts), stood his ground proving his fearlessness and formidable strength, making Juan Manuel Lopez's victory over him by referee technical decision less than fully convincing and fulfilling, at least to the intimation of some boxing pundits.

In fact, many did question Roach's decision as to why he stopped the fight when Penalosa can still throw his punches, in that his fighter was not bleeding nor disoriented at all, nor was Penalosa gasping for pure air. And they further supposed: "What if Freddie Roach stopped the fight between Morales-Pacquiao I before the eleventh? There could have been no Morales-Pacquiao II. Nor a trilogy."

Could this be symptomatic of Freddie Roach's traumatic experiences from his own knockout losses from Andy Nance (1986), Greg Haugen (1985) and Marvin Galvin (1982)?

Or, simply put, was he just cautious of the potential damage Lopez's power shots can inflict to Penalosa's health, if not life in particular?

And while it is true that Lopez broke all static guards of Penalosa, his consistent advances hitting Penalosa heavily to the body and to the chin did not seem to make the 36 years old fighter falling out of his neuro-vascular stability.

This much must be known: Never close the possibility as one may rather extrapolate that if only Penalosa were a hard-hitting puncher, then the tempo of the fight may just have shifted to his favor. But, he's not. Despite his petrified physique, he did not possess an electrifying, one-punch knockout. The perfect punch he delivered to the body that took down Johnny Gonzales two years ago was just a lucky one. And that was not his trademark.

Conversely, based on that fight and contrary to some boxing aficionados and fans, Lopez's vulnerability may just have been exposed: He is less devastating and less ferocious than what they think he is. In fact, Penalosa took his punches well on many occasions in the last three rounds. And, despite those stormy rounds, Lopez still failed to deliver a marginal damage upon his smaller, older opponent. In fact, the latter was still throwing his own sporadically.

Yes, Lopez is brilliant and dynamic. But, Penalosa, paradoxically, made him less sensational and less impressive in their ever classic fight. The reigning champion of Puerto Rico can't just send the Filipino to the canvas.

Nevertheless, who knows what would take place after ninth round. It may have been the big surprise that Penalosa had been promising all along - at least not just to the boxing pundits, but to the adoring Puerto Ricans as well.

Meanwhile, Penalosa drew standing ovations from the same aficionados and fans in that high night of Puerto Rico right after the fight, according to one of the spectators.

Penalosa, indeed, surprised Lopez, defaulting the latter's menacing intent to hand him his first professional knockout loss.

Nonetheless, Penalosa really fought a good fight of faith. It was the unfailing faith of the Maharlikan blood.

For comments, please cick here.

Note: Granville Hayag Ampong is an L.A.-based journalist regularly writing for Philboxing.com, Manila-US Times, California Examiner, Nevada Examiner, AmericaFront.com, BoxingRepublic.com and Maharlikan Times.

You may visit the author's site at www.maharlikantimes.com or simply e-mail your comment(s) to granvilleampong@maharlikantimes.com


Click here to view a list of other articles written by Granville Ampong.


Recent PhilBoxing.com In-House articles:

  • Remembering Gabriel ‘Flash’ Elorde: A Pilgrimage of Gratitude
    By Emmanuel Rivera, RRT, , Sun, 07 Sep 2025
  • Hometown Triumph: Oscar Valdez Defeats Ricky Medina by Decision
    , Sun, 07 Sep 2025
  • Team USA Captures Two Wins on Day Three of 2025 World Boxing Championships
    , Sun, 07 Sep 2025
  • McCormack Stops Parra in 9
    , Sun, 07 Sep 2025
  • Monika Singh Makes History as India's Newest Youth World Champion
    By Carlos Costa, , Sun, 07 Sep 2025
  • Who is Nico Walsh?
    By Joaquin Henson, , Sun, 07 Sep 2025
  • Kelvin Watts Highlights Day Two of World Boxing Championships for Team USA
    , Sun, 07 Sep 2025
  • Weigh-In Results: Oscar Valdez vs. Ricky Medina
    , Sat, 06 Sep 2025
  • WEIGHTS FROM LOS MOCHIS: Eduardo Nuñez - 130 Lbs., Christopher Diaz - 129.6 Lbs.
    , Sat, 06 Sep 2025
  • “THE HOMECOMING” OFFICIAL WEIGHTS
    , Sat, 06 Sep 2025
  • ‘SUGAR’ NUNEZ VS. ‘PITUFO’ DIAZ – PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES
    , Sat, 06 Sep 2025
  • SUNDERLAND: WEIGH-IN RESULTS AND FIGHT NIGHT RUNNING ORDER
    , Sat, 06 Sep 2025
  • USA Boxing Nabs Perfect Outing on Day One of 2025 World Boxing Championships
    , Sat, 06 Sep 2025
  • Kelvin Watts Charged Up for 2025 World Boxing Championships
    , Sat, 06 Sep 2025
  • Legendary German Trainer Michael Timm Dies
    By Gabriel F. Cordero, , Sat, 06 Sep 2025
  • 2X Olympic Champion, 4X Undisputed & 17X World Champion Claressa Shields Confirmed for Eighth Annual Box Fan Expo,
    , Sat, 06 Sep 2025
  • Boxers swing into action
    By Joaquin Henson, , Fri, 05 Sep 2025
  • UBO Youth World Title Showdown: Aliya Soomro Fights Monika Singh in Thailand
    By Carlos Costa, , Fri, 05 Sep 2025
  • Battle of the Hawk Season 1 Finals on September 9; offers P600,000 to the winning team while P300,000 to the losing finalist team
    By Marlon Bernardino, , Fri, 05 Sep 2025
  • Press Conference Notes: Oscar Valdez Motivated for Saturday's Homecoming Against Ricky Medina
    , Fri, 05 Sep 2025
  • SUNDERLAND PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES AS McCORMACK EYES BIG WIN
    , Fri, 05 Sep 2025
  • THE ROAD TO REYES CUP AND MOSCONI CUP | 2025 PLAYERS QUALIFICATION
    , Fri, 05 Sep 2025
  • Statement from World Boxing following reports in the French media about French female boxers at the World Boxing Championships
    , Fri, 05 Sep 2025
  • GenSan Is Our Version of Los Mochis - The City of Boxing Champions
    By Teodoro Medina Reynoso, , Fri, 05 Sep 2025
  • Iglesias vs. Shishkin: Unsigned Hype
    By Chris Carlson, , Fri, 05 Sep 2025




  •  



     
    PhilBoxing.com has been created to support every aspiring
    Filipino boxer and the Philippine boxing scene in general.
    Please send comments to feedback@philboxing.com


    PRIVATE POLICY | LEGAL DISCLAIMER
    developed and maintained by dong secuya
    © 2025 philboxing.com.