MANILA, 24 October 2003 — If you think you have already seen the last of former world boxing champion Gerry Pe?alosa, think again.
Pe?alosa, who once reigned supreme as world superflyweight champion, is set to make a comeback next month.
The 31-year-old prizefighter — younger brother of former two-division world champion Dodie Boy Pe?alosa — is currently working on a promotional deal that will pave the way for his return to the ring nine months after calling it quits.
Considered one of the best boxers the country has ever produced, Pe?alosa failed to regain the world 115-lb title for the third time after suffering a split decision loss to Masamori Tokuyama in their mandatory rematch last Dec. 20, 2002 in Osaka, Japan.
That sorry defeat forced him to announce his retirement and end close the final chapter of his glorious career.
The Filipino jawcracker claimed the WBC crown by decisioning Hiroshi Kawashima on Feb. 2, 1997 in Tokyo, Japan.
Obviously, Pe?alosa’s loss to Tokuyama in a fight which most observers, including ace American trainer Freddie Roach, believed he narrowly won by points, appeared to have been the deciding factor.
Pe?alosa said he was retiring with a “heavy heart because I failed to realize my wish to win back the title.”
But he admitted he was happy with his decision to “hang up my gloves because I’m retiring in one piece and my family will definitely be very happy with this.”
This time, Pe?alosa is setting his sights on the lightly-regarded World Boxing Organization (WBO) Asia-Pacific bantamweight title currently held by one-time foe Ratanachai Sor Vorapin of Thailand tentatively set on Nov. 28 here in Manila.
He stopped Vorapin in the 6th round of their WBC international superflyweight match held last Nov. 11, 2000 at the Casino Filipino Amphitheater in Para?aque.
Experts, however, predict Pe?alosa will have his hands full when he squares off with Vorapin, who has developed a new fighting skills.
As a matter of fact, since losing to Pe?alosa, the 26-year-old Vorapin has pulled off several impressive victories, most notably a 12-round decision win against ex-IBF world superflyweight king Danny Romero on Sept. 29, 2001 at the Madison Square Garden in New York.
Three months later, Vorapin got a crack at the IBF bantamweight belt but lost a gallant match against American champion Tim Austin via 12-round unanimous decision.
Vorapin sports a 54-8 record spiked by 37 KO’s since turning professional in 1992.
Pe?alosa (46-5-2, 31 KOs) will also manage his own career, just like his idol, WBA heavyweight champion Roy Jones, Jr.
Following Pe?alosa’s defeat to Tokuyama, Rudy Salud, the former PBA commissioner, also stood down as Pe?alosa’s manager, saying: “There is no chemistry between us.”
Salud said he had done everything to make Pe?alosa a world kingpin again, going as far as sending the Filipino fighter to world renowned boxing camps such as the one run by Roy Jones Jr. in Biloxi, Mississippi, and hiring a top-notch coach like Roach, to prepare him for his bout with Tokuyama.
For Salud, his ward’s fight with Tokuyama was to be the defining moment of his manager’s career, a make-or-break bid to put the country back in the boxing world map. But it wasn’t meant to be.
Salud’s decision to quit as his manager, according to Pe?alosa, just made it easier for him to announce his retirement, which he decided on the week after his fight against Tokuyama. His decision to leave the ring for good also results in the relinquishing of the two minor titles which he still holds — the WBC International and North American Boxing Federation titles.
“No more. It’s time for me to stop. I have to do this no matter how painful it is,” said the southpaw Pe?alosa, who turns 31 in August. Salud explained that at 31, boxers in lighter divisions are considered “old.”
“Fighters like him require speed, not only power. He doesn’t have the speed anymore,” said Salud.
Pe?alosa said he was leaving the sport because even if his mind was willing, the body was not.
“I don’t want to fight anymore because I don’t want to suffer any serious injury. What would happen to my family if that happens,” he said.
Pe?alosa, whose three unsuccessful attempts to regain the world throne made him the heartbreak kid of Philippine boxing, admitted he no longer exhibits the moves that made him a fearsome puncher in his ranks during his heyday, adding “it is no longer my prime today.”
