 By Rene Bonsubre,jr
It was weekend like no other in the Philippines. Back to back title fights in different locations in Metro Manila and a champion defending his title overseas. When the dust settled, it was only John Riel Casimero who still had a world title belt around his waist. Casimero faced Mexican visitor Cesar Ramirez at the San Andres Sports Center in Malate,Manila. Both boxers were hesitant to trade bombs at the start. Casimero’s left scored a flash knockdown in the third and there was a questionable knockdown in the fifth also against Ramirez. In between, Ramirez had his best moments on the outside, using his jab and landing quick one-two combos. But Casimero was successful in turning it into a street fight. They took turns staggering each other but this type of battle was Casimero’s world. It brought back memories of Casimero’s nasty brawl and TKO win against Luis Alberto Lazarte in Argentina seven years ago. In the seventh, Casimero blasted Ramirez through the ropes. A KO ending was looming. In the 10th a faded Ramirez succumbed and fell flat after being hit by a clean right to the jaw. Referee Ramon Peña correctly signaled the end as Ramirez (18-4,11KO’s) spent a few minutes lying on the canvas. Aside from retaining the interim WBO title, Casimero (28-W-4L,19KO’s) earned the right to fight WBO bantamweight champion Zolani Tete of South Africa within ninety days. Carlo Caesar Peñalosa could not capitalize his homecourt advantage and succumbed to the pressure fighting Mexican Maximino Flores. Peñalosa was on the back foot for most of the fight, seeking refuge on the ropes and preferring to counter. Flores continued to swing for the body, not thinking whether his punches were blocked or not, as long as he kept going forward. An accidental clash of heads lead to a cut on Peñalosa’s left eye. The ring doctor allowed the fight to continue and Flores continued to control the action. Peñalosa landed clean shots but Flores just walked through them. There was a weird moment after the sixth round when the Aussie referee Garry Dean announced the fight was stopped and was going to the scorecards. There was a miscommunication with the ring doctor who said he did not recommend the stoppage just yet. The fight continued in the seventh after a brief protest by the Mexican camp. Peñalosa couldn’t do anything to change the complexion of the fight and it was stopped at the end of the round. The scores – Judges Jerrold Tomeldan (Philippines) and Adam Height (Australia) had it for Flores 68-65 and 67-66 respectively and Kevin Pyne (New Zealand) had it 67-66 for Peñalosa. The fight for the vacant IBO world flyweight title was promoted by Carlo’s uncle, former two-division world champion Gerry Peñalosa and held at the TV5 Studio in Quezon City. It seemed this was a case of Flores (25-4-1,17KO’s) simply having experienced better competition, previously losing to Andrew Selby of the U.K.and Filipino Milan Melindo. It will be back to the drawing boards for the 26 year old Peñalosa (14-2,7KO’s) who suffers his second pro loss. Vic Saludar’s career seemed to be headed for greater heights after winning twice in Japan. But mandatory challenger Puerto Rican Wilfredo Mendez had other plans. Saludar defended the WBO minimumweight crown on Mendez’s home turf in San Juan,Puerto Rico and left an ex-champion. Mendez (14-1,5KO’s) danced and jabbed his way to victory. Saludar’s left knocked him down in the fifth but this was near the end of the round and there was no time to follow it up. The trend continued wherein the southpaw Mendez circled effectively away from Saludar’s power right. He clinched when Saludar (19-4,10KO’s) got too close for comfort. Mendez’s strategy was reminiscent of another Puerto Rican miniflyweight, Ivan Calderon. The scores at the end - 117-110, 116-111 and 115-112. Saludar’s trainer Jojo Palacios could not make the trip to Puerto Rico because of visa issues. Filipino-Hawaiian Bobby Villaver, an experienced cornerman who made a name in Thailand, was Palacios’ replacement. ULTIMATE BOXING SERIES The undercard of the Penalosa-Flores fight saw the finals of the Ultimate Boxing Series tournament. The audience was treated to two close fiercely fought eight rounders. April Jay Abne won the flyweight category with a majority decision win over Ronel Sumalpong while Lienard Sarcon was on the top of the bantamweights after beating Aljum Pelesio also by majority verdict. PHOTO – Left to right – John Riel Casimero, Vic Saludar and Carlo Peñalosa
0 Comments
 By Rene Bonsubre,jr
The Peñalosa surname holds a special place in Philippine boxing history. Most fight fans remember the two brothers Dodie Boy and Gerry, who had four world title belts between them. But it was the family patriarch, Carl Peñalosa, who started it all in the 1960’s. He won the Philippine championship at lightweight and junior welterweight. His son, Diosdado, aka Dodie Boy, is known for being the first Filipino to win world titles in two different weight divisions. A slight handicap of having one shorter leg due to childhood polio did not stop him from pursuing boxing as a profession. In 1983, he was the first light flyweight world champion of the IBF. Dodie Boy beat Japan’s Satoshi Shingaki by 12th round TKO in Osaka. In his first attempt to win a world flyweight title, he lost to Panama’s Hilario Zapata, who held the WBA belt, by unanimous decision in 1986 in a fight held in the Philippines. In 1987, he took the IBF flyweight crown from Hi-Sup Shin of South Korea by 5th round TKO in Incheon. Dodie Boy lost his title on home soil by 11th round knockout to another Korean Chang-Ho Choi.In 1989, he would lose a split decision to Dave McAuley by split decision in his final attempt to win the IBF flyweight title. Dodie Boy finished his career in 1995 at 31-7-3,13KO’s. Two years after Dodie’s retirement, his younger brother Geronimo aka Gerry, dethroned WBC super flyweight champion Hiroshi Kawashima of Japan by split decision in Tokyo. Gerry is known for being the best counterpuncher and ring technician produced by the Philippines. His career hit a snag when he lost his title by split decision to Korean In-Joo Cho in Seoul.He lose again in a rematch and losses to Japanese Masamori Tokuyama twice made him go into a brief retirement in 2003. Gerry would make a comeback and in 2007 he fought as a junior featherweight and lose a unanimous decision to WBO titleholder Daniel Ponce de Leon. But against all odds, Gerry won his second world title at bantamweight, knocking out WBO champ Jhonny Gonzalez with a body punch in 2007 in Sacramento. He would be stopped by Juan Manuel Lopez in 2009 in another attempt to win a third world title. Gerry retired in 2010 with a record of 55-8-2,37KO’s. Gerry is now a promoter. He promotes his nephews who have decided to continue the family legacy. Dodie’s son- Dodie Boy,Jr - was a rising star but has been inactive since 2016. He is unbeaten at 19-0,15KO’s. Dodie Junior’s brother Dave is now the star in the family. Against the wishes of his uncle, he pleaded to continue his boxing career. Gerry obliged to promote him in televised fights last year. Dave Peñalosa (14-0,10KO’s) will be pitted against Marcos Cardenas (19-6-1,15KO’s) on February 16 for the WBO Oriental featherweight title at the SM Skydome in Quezon City in the Philippines. Another Peñalosa clan member, Carlo Caesar, will fight Thai Watana Phenbaan on the undercard. Gerry will be looking closely at his nephews in this fight card and assess if they have the right stuff to go all the way. He told this writer after the weigh-in. “They kept calling me a couple of years ago, asking for a fight. They want to continue boxing. They insisted on it. I told them to be very serious in their training. If they give an impressive performance, I will continue to promote them, and let them fight for a world title.” It will be interesting to see if the next generation of Peñalosas can equal or even surpass the clan’s accomplishments. There will be a lot of pressure on them in the Philippines. The fight card this Saturday is one of the few cards in the country that will be aired live on free television. ESPN5/TV5 has been supporting local boxing in this regard and during the press conference after the weigh-in, they announced that ratings have been very good. Photo – Carlo Caesar and Dave Penalosa during Friday’s weigh-in in Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila |
Guests!These articles are submitted by guest writers and sites. They aren't submitted by the usual folk behind Asian Boxing and don't fall in line with our editorial stance, giving a fresh view on various boxing issues from the Asian boxing scene. Archives
August 2021
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed
