Looking at his resume, he's fought no one of note besides ponce de leon and jhonny gonzalez...Since his 2004 comeback that is. Am I missing something?
You have to understand that Penalosa fought mostly in asia during that time so any recognizable names there are most likely Thai, Korean, or Japanese. He tried to break into the North American market in the late 90's and there was talk of a fight with Tapia but that unfortunately never materialized.
actually you're right. though he's already old, the guy's a very good boxing technician and counter puncher. and props to him for taking a very deadly fight against the up and comer juanma lopez.
here's all you need to know Chin + Counterpunch + Skills physically his best days are behind him, but his type of fighter ages very slowly, see Marquez for example, and yeah, opposition wise, he's no Pacman but......he aint goin down with out a fight, if Juanma makes this one look ez, he's just supernatural
I think you can make a very listenable case that Gerry has the best chin in the business right now. Then again, De Leon was thought to have an inpenetrable chin also. That being said, Gerry is an outstanding technician, very cagey, great instincts.
He doesnt really have superhuman punch resistance like some of the ATGs do, but it's pretty good, and he keeps himself from harm's way with his defensive movement, footwork and blocking/slipping/ducking skills. He protects his chin and it isnt tested so much each time he fights. He comes from a family of pro boxers. His father was a local pro boxer, and his older brother, Dodie Boy was a former world champion. He's a big underdog versus JuanMa, and he definitely wont win a close decision in Lopez's home country. The only way he'll win is by KO, I think. A tall order, definitely. I hope he finds a way to stop the young Puerto Rican.
penalosa was really targeting a fight with tapia but instead decided to defended his title against cho in korea on a short noticed...
PDL was one of the worst champs I have ever seen, technically, if Penalosa couldnt clearly decision him, he stands next to no chance against JML.
that was my logic on pickin the winner 2, but ****.....he'll atleast do better then Juanmas last victims, or atleast thats what i assume
i know Roy Jones took notice of him when Gerry trained in his camp in the late 90's...He was impressed with Penalosa's skills..but Gerry's handlers never capitalized on it.
tall order for gerry to win. odds are stacked against him, fighting a young and explosive puncher in juanma, father time beckoning and fighting on opponent's home turf.. here's hoping he'll do better than juanma's previous opponents..