The son of 2-division world titlist (IBF flyweight & light fly) Dodie Boy Peñalosa Sr. and nephew of 2-division world titlist (WBC super fly & WBO bantamweight) Gerry Peñalosa has been maneuvered at much slower a pace than you'd expect given his pedigree and natural talent. Of course, that may be the product of having "too many cooks" in an unstable kitchen with the doors constantly swinging and piles of dirty aprons everywhere - at only 24 years old, Dodie Jr. has already had no less than half a dozen promoters and three managers! Some of these overlapped as co-promoters (and half of them are vanity promotions headed up by other boxers including his uncle Gerry, and Manny Pacquiao), but still. Dodie was signed initially by Cher Koerner's TKO Promotions (which folded soon after) and then had brief spells with a variety of small-fry outfits such as Solar Sports, ALA, RN, Peter Maniatis Events and one brief stint, along with his younger brother Dave, with Top Rank. He was previously managed by Nonito Donaire, but he and Dave have now signed with Cameron Dunkin, who reportedly already has 4 bouts scheduled out for Dodie Jr., all in the USA, with an eye toward building up a ranking for him and getting some big fights down the line. He returns tonight after 14 months' absence from the ring. Before that he fought uninspiring competition on regional shows in Manila for 2 years after what seemed to be an uptick for him with consecutive appearances on the Pacquiao vs. Marquez IV PPV undercard and the "Fists of Gold" Zou Shiming debut card in Macau. It will be good to see him step up and stay active, rather than waste his abilities in the flower of his prime. In addition to having legendary relatives to help guide him, Dodie Boy Jr. entered the pros with some nepotism-free credentials, going 27-0 (10) in the amateurs with two Philippines national championships to his name. Harold Lederman called Peñalosa Jr. among the best prospects in the game a couple of years ago. As for why his moniker is "Manatee Champ" (literal translation from "Dugong Kampeon") - beats me :conf. Perhaps a case of Ricky Fatton-itis? Childhood nickname? Dodie Boy Peñalosa Jr. vs. Jesus Lule: [yt]PaMKzfwGZLU[/yt] Dodie Boy Peñalosa Jr. vs. Chumpon Phrombanphot (aka Nimithra Sithsaithong): [yt]jHoJmDjmpZ0[/yt]
It is. But "dugo" means blood, and adding "ng" at the end of the word means it belongs to someone (in this case, a champion). The animal isn't used as the literal translation here lol
