GERRY ?Fearless? Pe?alosa will finally get the chance to get back at his tormentor, Daniel Ponce de Leon.
That is, if the two protagonists hurdle two big ?ifs.?
?This will be a tough fight for Pe?alosa. If he gets past Sor Vorapin and if Daniel Ponce de Leon will get past Juan Manuel Lopez then we will try to make the fight later this year,? said Golden Boy Promotions Vice President Eric Gomez via teleconference in the press conference for the ?Invasion: Philippines vs. The World? yesterday.
Pe?alosa lost to de Leon in their WBO and IBA title bout in March last year, his first loss since 2002, and has been aching for a rematch with the Mexican slugger.
Before he gets to do that, Pe?alosa has to hurdle Vorapin in the first promotion of GBP in the Philippines this year.
Pe?alosa (52-6, 35 KOs) will face Vorapin (71-9, 47 KOs) to defend his World Boxing Organization bantamweight crown for the first time after acquiring it from Mexico?s Jhonny Gonzalez via seventh round KO last year.
Title match
Supporting the main card will be another title match featuring Rey ?Boom Boom? Bautista in his WBO Inter-Continental junior featherweight title defense against Genaro Camargo of Mexico.
?Camargo will come to fight. He is a former national champ in Mexico,? said international matchmaker Sampson Leckowicz when asked about Camargo who is virtually unknown.
For ?Boom Boom?, Camargo will have the advantage of scouting because his videos are all over the internet unlike his Mexican counterpart.
?This will be our problem we haven?t seen his fights. He has the advantage because he has seen my fight with Meza,? said Bautista.
Eliminator
Also set in the fight card will be an International Boxing Federation super flyweight title eliminator for the No.1 contender, which will be a battle between undefeated fighters AJ ?Bazooka? Banal (16-0-1, 13 KOs) and Uruguayan Caril ?El Raton? Herrera (21-0, 13 KOs).
Banal is now ready to take on the Herrera, who is said to be the Manny Pacquiao of Uruguay, since he has been training for a long while.
?I was training since December because I was supposed to fight in February. I have prepared well,? said Banal.
?I?m training AJ to play at the center of the ring and not in the corner. If Banal gets cornered, he will be in trouble. He should not be cornered. AJ?s perfect sparring partner is Frederico Catubay,? said ALA trainer Edito ?Ala? Villamor.
When asked what opponent is he comfortable with an orthodox or a southpaw, Banal laughingly said ?Bisag unsa?.
Joining the Invasion card will be up-and-rising boxer Ciso ?Kid? Terrible (9-0, 6 KO?s) who will defend his WBO Oriental junior featherweight strap against Yoo Shin Kim (6-1, 4 KO?s) of South Korea.
Also seeing action are the successful Boxing World Cup members Michael Domingo and Bert Batawang. Domingo (34-14-2, 14 KO?s) will trade leathers with Thepnimit Sor Chitpattana (18-2, 7 KO?s) of Thailand, while the veteran Batawang (50-7, 34 KO?s) will collide with Indonesia?s Heri Amol (22-8, 7 KO?s).
