MANILA, 13 September — World Boxing Council (WBC) International super flyweight titlist Gerry Peñalosa’s mandatory title shot against Masamori Tokuyama has been postponed to Dec. 20 because of a hairline fracture on the Japanese champion’s left hand.
Tokuyama suffered the injury during his seventh round technical knockout win over Erik “Bam Bam” Lopez of Mexico last Aug. 26 in Saitama, Japan.
Peñalosa’s manager, lawyer Rudy Salud, yesterday said Japanese matchmaker and journalist Joe Koizumi informed him Japanese promoters were “trying to arrange with a TV network for coverage on Dec. 20” and would confirm the date any moment this month.
Salud said Tokuyama’s camp had agreed to pay for Peñalosa’s training expenses as well as his travel to Los Angeles where he will resume working out under the watchful eye of American trainer Freddie Roach in November.
Salud said that because of Tokuyama’s head-butting tactics which opened several nasty cuts in Peñalosa’s head in their last title fight, Roach would include an experienced “cut man” among the handlers who will be in the Filipino’s corner in Osaka.
Salud revealed that after Peñalosa’s rousing seventh round TKO win over Seiji Tanaka last Aug. 22 in Honolulu, Roach had told Peñalosa that he must throw “twice as many punches to the body” of Tokuyama as he did in the fight against Tanaka.
Tanaka, a stablemate of the champion, is regarded as a “clone” of Tokuyama.
Roach warned Peñalosa that “if you don’t double the number of punches to the body, I’ll quit.”
Roach also stressed the 30-year-old southpaw “needs to learn to evade punches by moving his head and not merely covering up and parrying the opponent’s punches.”
According to Salud, Roach also told Peñalosa he must “counter-punch when his opponent attacks because that will give him an opening for a possible knockout.”
Asiad-bound Mariño gets
clean bill of health
Injured archer Purita Joy Mariño has secured her slot in the eight-member archery team to the coming Asian Games as the Philippine Center for Sports Medicine (PCSM) gave her the clearance to compete in the Busan, South Korea meet.
Mariño who was responsible for the lone gold medal won by the Filipino archers in last year’s Southeast Asian Games in Malaysia, suffered a “shoulder impringement syndrome” on her right shoulder while competing at the 2002 Asian Grand Prix in China last June. National Archery Association of the Philippines (NAAP) officials even named two alternates, Adelinda Figueroa and Abigail Tindugan, just in case Mariño failed to recover in time for the Sept. 29-Oct. 14 conclave.
But after two months of physical therapy, PSCM’s orthopedics doctor, Albert Quintos, deemed Mariño fit to play in the Asiad.
“She’s already cleared to play,” said NAAP secretary general Ligaya Manalang. “But we’re not too sure yet if she has regained her top condition. During our last trial, she scored only 1,180, while the rest of her teammates has 1,200 and above. Hopefully, 100 percent na siya pagdating ng Asian Games.”
Mariño is entered in the individual event and in the team competitions where she’ll join forces with Olympian Jennifer Chan, Joanne Tabañag and youthful Rachel Ann Cabral in trying to improve on the Filipina archers’ fourth place finish in the 1998 Asiad.
The men’s squad is composed of Marvin Cordero, Christian Cubilla, Florante Matan and Arnold Rojas.
“According to our coach, oru women’s team stands a chance in the Asian Games, with 17-year-old Rachel Cabral looming as our top bet. She scored 1,308 in our last trial,” Manalang said.
