Contrary to popular belief, Manny Pacquiao is not the only great Filipino fighter of this era. Known as the ‘Fearless’ one and coined as the best technical boxer ever to come out of the Philippines by Freddie Roach, Gerry Penalosa, a former title holder in the super flyweight and bantamweight divisions, who mostly fought in anonymity for most of his career, no doubts owns a resume worthy of Hall of Fame considerations
Many might quickly glance at his career record and point out the number of losses, but most of those came from controversial decisions against top fighters. He was the victim of controversial ‘hometown’ decisions against Tokuyama and In Joo Choo, two fighters who spent most of their time running away from Penalosa in their fights. Then in his fight against Daniel Ponce De Leon, the judges were blinded by the Mexican warrior’s punch output and forgot the fact that the punches actually have to land in order to count. In fact, his only clear loss might be the fight against Juan Manuel Lopez which was fought when Penalosa was clearly past his prime, yet even with the a dominant performance the former had doubts who was winning because of Penalosa’s determination.
Penalosa is also highly regarded for his constant desire to fight the best opponents available, which he continued to display until the end of his career with his willingness to fight younger champions and other top fighters even in their home turf. Some may argue that statement since his resume in the first half of his career was mostly filled with ‘unknown’ fighters.
However, those ‘unknown’ fighters such as Tokuyama, In Joo Choo, Oscar Andrade and Ratanachai Singwancha were not only solid fighters but former title belt holders. Also, what must be taken into consideration is the lack of opportunities provided to Filipino boxers at the time. Before Manny Pacquiao, many Filipino boxers even those with had a hard time obtaining abroad and were limited to fighting within the Asian continent.
With the talent and technical skills that many boxing fans now know that Gerry posses, there is no doubt that many would have given him a chance to beat some of the top fighters in the super flyweight and bantamweight divisions at the time such as Johnny Tapia, Mark ‘Too’ Sharp Johnson and Rafael Marquez. Remember when Gerry once challenged Tapia before he initially retired, but the latter never responded. He had also challenged Montiel recently, but unfortunately no negotiations for a possible fight between the two ever materialized.
So it was no surprise that when given the opportunities he had always wanted because of Manny Pacquiao’s success, he welcomed them with open arms and accepted fights with younger tough fighters such as Gonzalez, De Leon and Lopez just to name a few.
But now with his age, desire to spend more time with family and the difficulty of obtaining the fights that he wants, he had chosen to retire after his victory against Yodsaenkeng Kietmangmee, who he knocked out in the 4th round yesterday.
While some have already voiced their opinions that Yodsaenkeng was a mediocre fighter, it must be noted that Penalosa could have just stayed retired and didn't need to come back into the ring again. But this fight was just his way to show his fans his appreciation by giving them a chance to see him fight for the last time while also doing his part to help Z Gorres since some of the proceeds from the bout will be given to the latter. So just enjoy his victory because similar to Pacquiao, there will also never be another Gerry Penalosa.
check out
follow us on twitter and facebook
Written by:
