WBO bantamweight champion Gerry Pe?alosa and IBF/IBO flyweight titleholder Nonito Donaire Jr. were given the go-signal the other day to train at the ABAP gym in Teachers Village, Baguio City, and are heading to the country?s summer capital to open camp today.
Pe?alosa is set to stake his crown against top contender Eric Morel with the details of site and date to be determined after the purse bidding at the WBO head office in Puerto Rico this Tuesday.
Donaire will challenge WBO superflyweight champion Fernando Montiel of Mexico at the Araneta Coliseum on March 15.
Pe?alosa and Donaire sought approval from ABAP chairman Manny Pangilinan to use the ABAP facilities, which include two full-sized rings, in Baguio City during a meeting at the Cantada Sports Center in Taguig. Also at the meeting were ABAP president Ricky Vargas and ABAP secretary-general Patrick Gregorio.
The two world champions initially planned to leave for Baguio City last Sunday but postponed the trip until they received clearance from ABAP. To avoid delay in their preparations, Donaire and Pe?alosa began punching mitts last Monday in Mandaluyong.
Donaire?s timetable stipulates eight weeks of hard training for Montiel with Thursdays and Fridays off. He was scheduled to consult sports medicine specialist Dr. Raul Canlas yesterday on the condition of his left pinkie which was fractured in his sixth round knockout win over Moruti Mthalane last November.
?We?re ready to go,? said Donaire yesterday. ?I?m looking forward to working with Gerry and his brothers (Jonathan and Dodie Boy). I know I can learn a lot from their experience. What I lack in technical skills, Gerry will be able to fill in. Montiel is a tough fighter who can box and punch so I?ve got to be well-prepared to handle whatever he brings to the ring.?
On Saturday, Pe?alosa?s nephew Dodie Boy Jr. will fly in from Cebu and join the group in Baguio City. The 17-year-old prospect recently secured a Games and Amusements Board license to turn pro but was dissuaded from making his debut last Dec. 27. Dodie Boy Jr., a bantamweight, is being eyed for the national pool with the goal of making it to the 2012 London Olympics.
ABAP tournament director Roger Fortaleza said Dodie Boy Jr. was in the lineup for training in Cuba and the World Youth Championships in Mexico last year but his decision to turn pro averted plans.
?Dodie Boy Jr. was the best boxer in the national youth open in Iloilo last summer,? said Fortaleza. ?We wanted to draft him for the national team but he was eager to turn pro and we lost contact.?
Pe?alosa said he convinced his nephew to stay amateur.
?I told my brother (Dodie Boy Sr.) I would train him (Dodie Boy Jr.) for six months straight to get him ready,? said Pe?alosa. ?He?s young. My advice is for him to fight with the national team and try out for the Olympics. The pros can wait. The opportunity to turn pro will always be there but the chance of fighting for your country is an honor you can?t turn down.?
Donaire said the first option is to train at the ABAP gym in Teachers Village but if there is a conflict in schedules with the national team, a fall-back is to work out at the nearby Shape-Up boxing gym in the Cooyesan Hotel Plaza on Naguilian Road.
PBL commissioner Chino Trinidad said he was impressed with the Cooyesan facilities during a recent PBL road trip. It?s a one-stop venue which offers living quarters (the executive suite has three separate rooms), a supermarket, a boxing gym with a regulation ring and courts for basketball, tennis and badminton. Trinidad requested Baguio City-based sports organizer Leo Arnaiz to arrange the use of the Cooyesan facilities for Donaire and Pe?alosa.
?Our first option is the ABAP gym,? said Donaire. ?It overlooks a track oval where we can run and it?s an easy drive to hilly slopes. We?ll also check out Cooyesan because we could use the accommodations and not have to go far to train.?
