MANILA, 17 January 2003 — Former World Boxing Council (WBC) super flyweight champion Gerry Penalosa — considered one of the best boxers the country has ever produced — is closing the final chapter of his glorious career in the ring.
Also the reigning WBC International champion, Peñalosa 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 in Osaka, Japan.
“After carefully weighing all the options to me following my loss (to Tokuyama) and discussions with my family, as well as my boxing manager Rodrigo Salud, I have decided that the prudent course of action would be for me to retire, effective immediately,” said Peñalosa in a prepared statement.
The decision came a few days after Salud informed him, WBC chairman and long-time friend Jose Sulaiman and Games and Amusements Board (GAB) chairman Eduardo Villanueva that he was releasing Peñalosa from his management contract with him.
In a luncheon gathering with selected sportswriters and columnists at the Bayview Park Hotel, Peñalosa broke the news of his decision to finally call it quits after three heartbreaking attempts to regain the world title he won via a split decision from Japan’s Hiroshi Kawashima on Feb. 20, 1997 in Tokyo.
Obviously, Peñalosa’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.
Peñalosa 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.”
Asked why he was standing down as Peñalosa’s manager, Salud, the former PBA commissioner, said: “There is no chemistry between us.”
Salud said he had done everything to make Peñalosa 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 Peñalosa, 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 Peñalosa, 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. Peñalosa, seated beside his wife Goody during the press conference, 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.
Peñalosa, 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.” Safety concerns also tolled heavily on his decision to hang up his gloves.
The other reason may have been his manager’s decision to ask Peñalosa to find a new and “perhaps luckier manager” should he decide to continue fighting because they had both agreed it was to be Salud’s “last hurrah” in case of a loss to Tokuyama.
That fight with Tokuyama was so close, some quarters thought his performance should qualify him for yet another crack at the world title. But the brutally frank reality is that Peñalosa does not have any chemistry with Salud. Peñalosa said his partnership with Salud “lacked the chemistry” to make him world champion again.
The Negros-born and Cebu-bred Peñalosa, who also lost to South Korean In Joo-cho in January 2000 in Seoul, and to Tokuyama in September 2001 in Yokohama, failed to win in three attempts to regain the world crown although all the outcomes were close and controversial. “I’m so sorry that I couldn’t fulfill Atty. Salud’s dream for me, that is to win back the world title. He has done everything he can for me to regain the glory, and I’m so thankful for that,” said Peñalosa, biting his lips and holding back his tears.
Under Salud, Peñalosa fought a total of 10 bouts “but lost the big ones,” according to Salud, whose boxing expertise and solid connections with WBC President Jose Sulaiman prevented his fighter from being ranked lower than No. 2 in the division loaded with high-grade talent. Likewise, under Salud, Peñalosa bagged the WBC International and the North American Boxing Federation diadems.
Yet, there were a few fights that showcased the Peñalosa of the 1990s, but it was clear that when Salud took the lefty under his wings, it was a bit late.
Peñalosa agreed that perhaps the chemistry between them did not exist.
Even Roach had expressed the opinion that it was already late in the day when he and Peñalosa crossed paths.
Peñalosa, whose exploits sent him to the US West and East Coast, Korea and Japan, said he will serve as Salud’s scoutmaster.
“It’s time to hang up the gloves,” said Peñalosa. “I love boxing but boxing doesn’t love me.” Peñalosa is ending his career with an impressive ring record of 46-5-2 with 31 knockouts. He reigned as WBC champion from February 1997 until August 1998. He won by defeating Hiroshi Kawashima in Tokyo and defended it against South Koreans Seung Koo-lee and Young Jo-cho and Mexican Joel Luna Zarate. He surrendered it to another South Korean, In Joo-cho.
