If the official weigh-in provided any indication of how today?s fight should go, then Ratanachai Sor Vorapin is in for a big struggle against reigning WBO bantamweight champion Gerry Pe?alosa.
The Thai challenger, out to win the title he once held, failed to make the weight on his first trip to the scales during yesterday?s official weigh-in at the crowded Cineplex lobby of the Gateway Mall in Cubao.
Vorapin, in his boxers, weighed in at 118.5 lbs, half a pound over the limit, and was given two hours to make it. He was back in less than 15 minutes, and tipped the scales, this time naked, at 118 lbs.
Vorapin, according to one of his handlers, needed just one trip to the comfort room to get rid of the excess weight. Still, it wasn?t a good sign that he failed to make it on his first try.
Pe?alosa, at 35 older and wiser than the 31-year-old Thai, had no problem with his weight. Surrounded by ring officials, he gently tipped the scales, barely moving, arms raised and holding his breath, at exactly 118 lbs.
Then the Filipino champion flexed his muscles before the media, looking gaunt, ripped, serious and ready to retain the title against Sor Vorapin, whom he knocked out inside six rounds when they first met in 2000.
Freddie Roach will be in the corner of Pe?alosa who won the crown with a seventh round knockout of Jhonny Gonzales in August last year in Sacramento. Superstar Manny Pacquiao will be at ringside, too.
The title fight is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. at the Araneta Coliseum, which should be around prime time in the United States. Seven other bouts are on tap for the day, the first one set at 7:30 in the morning.
Rey ?Boom-Boom? Bautista faces Mexico?s Genaro Camargo for the WBO Inter-Continental Jr. featherweight crown while AJ Banal takes on fellow undefeated Caril Herrera of Uruguay in an IBF Inter-Continental Jr. bantam eliminator.
Ciso Morales of Bohol takes on Yoo Shin Kim of South Korea for the WBO Youth featherweight title; Michael Domingo faces Thepnimit Sor Chitpattana of Thailand; Bert Batawang collides with Heri Amol of Indonesia; John Mark Apolinario squares off with Jessie Albaracin; and Eric Macas tests Rene Bucag in the opening bout.
During Thursday?s press conference, Pe?alosa said this should be one of his last fights before he finally retires. Once he?s done with Sor Vorapin, he said he wants Daniel Ponce de Leon and then Rafael Marquez.
?Then I will retire. Or my wife (Goody) will kill me,? said Pe?alosa, who doesn?t want to see himself fighting at 37 or 38. He will turn 36 in August and by that time should probably be the oldest Filipino champion ever.
This one may also be his last fight in the Philippines.
After weighing in, Pe?alosa left in a huff, surrounded by his men, and went back to his room at The Richmonde Hotel. He ignored plenty of calls for him to return to the stage, and have a photo-op with Sor Vorapin.
?Gerry was starving and he went straight to his room,? said a member of Team Pe?alosa. The Pinoy champion is expected to weigh around 130 lbs by the time he climbs the ring this noon.
Less than an hour after the weigh-in, Sor Vorapin was seen coming out of Super Bowl, a Chinese restaurant inside the mall. He looked a little more relaxed than when he was on the scales.
