Fire Quinito gathers all the essential reading for Juan Manuel Lopez's impressive TKO win over Gerry Penalosa, to save you time to gather your thoughts about why BB Gandanghari was denied entry into a bar for cross-dressing.

Gabriel Montoya, Max Boxing: "Between rounds, the trainer of Penalosa, Freddie Roach told his charge that he was giving him one more round. He would have to knockout Lopez or come close or the fight would be over. However, Lopez had other plans as he jumped right on Penalosa at the start of the ninth, not allowing him to get in a desperation shot or any confidence. In fact, as the round wore on, Lopez began landing cleaner and cleaner shots. To his credit however, Penalosa took them well and responded every time he was hit. It was simply too lopsided with no chance of coming back and following the ninth round, Roach mercifully told his fighter he was stopping it, asked if that was okay, and his fighter responded in the affirmative."

Compubox Report: "Punching machine Lopez averaged nearly 50 punches LANDED per round vs. ultimate warrior Penalosa. Lopez’s 87 punches landed in round eight ranked #6 all time for all weight classes. Lopez set jr. featherweight records for most power punches landed in a round, 84 and thrown, 129- also in round eight."

Michael Rosenthal, The Ring: "The 36-year-old former two-time titleholder might’ve turned in the greatest performance in a lopsided loss in boxing history. The former titleholder took an astonishing amount of punishment from a naturally bigger man with crushing power yet continued to throw back and was ready to continue when the fight was stopped. The Filipino might be the toughest fighter in the world pound for pound. What a warrior! That said, his trainer, Freddie Roach, did the right thing by stopping the fight after the ninth round. Penalosa had taken enough punches and wasn’t going to win the fight."

Juan Manuel Lopez added another feather to his pound-for-pound cap by beating Gerry Penalosa from pillar to post in their bout Sunday morning, forcing Freddie Roach keep the Filipino champion from continuing the fight at the beginning of the tenth round. It was the first stoppage of his career for Penalosa, who had never touched the canvas in more than 60 fights.

It was a mismatch from the very beginning, with Penalosa lying prone to Juanma's body attacks. If it had been Penalosa from 10 years ago in the ring against Lopez, he would have been able to stay active enough to confound Lopez with his activity in close quarters, and he would have been busy enough on offense to prevent the champion from marching in and taking his shots. Instead, Penalosa was a sitting duck who, to use Roach's words for Oscar de la Hoya, could not pull the trigger anymore.

In statements prior to the fight, Penalosa said that win or lose, this wouldn't be his swan song. While he's unlikely to be facing anyone as big or as strong as Lopez if he does continue fighting, his skills have slipped enough that he might end up getting seriously hurt. People close to Penalosa ought to be seriously talking him into retirement.

Fire Quinito gathers all the essential reading before the Penalosa-Lopez bout, so you can save time to ponder the implications of Marian Rivera being the new Darna.



Recah Trinidad, Inquirer: "It's too late, there’s no way we can stop it now, so let’s all join hands and pray, fervently please, that Gerry Peñalosa comes out of the mismatch in one piece. Dear Gerry, an old, fading street car, has been ranged against a great, gleaming lamppost. Other than the discrepancy, they’ll also do battle in Puerto Rico, not in a neutral street corner. If we still have time – they fight tomorrow – let’s all petition the health officer in Bayamon, not too far from the birthplace of Juan Manuel Lopez in Caguas, to make sure an ambulance is on stand by."

Doug Fischer, The Ring Magazine: "Penalosa (54-6-2, 36 KOs) is one of the sport’s most well-preserved world-class veterans. The Philippines-born southpaw is a complete fighter with skill, technique and athleticism that is on par with elite advanced-age fighters like Bernard Hopkins, Juan Manuel Marquez and Shane Mosley. Penalosa also possesses a warrior’s heart that matches those pound-for-pound entrants, and he truly believes his combination of skill, experience and courage will be enough to upset the young KO artist."

Gabriel Montoya, Max Boxing: "Unlike some fighters who prefer to get themselves in the best shape and feel that being at their peak is enough to win, Lopez spends his time watching lots of tape, thinking constantly of his opponent, and tailoring his approach to suit his needs. From the heavy bag to the ring to the video room, knowledge of his opponent is what brings Lopez confidence going forward."

Tim Starks, The Queensberry Rules: "Penalosa is 36. I can't say he looks it. I spent tonight watching his last few fights, and he's as good as ever. He's smooth. He's intelligent, and making matters worse for his opponents, he's trained by Freddie Roach, as intelligent a coach as you can find. He can counterpunch, or he can be the aggressor. His defense is pretty tight, and he's never been seriously hurt. He's not amazingly fast, but he's fast enough that, with the rest of his skills, he's usually the guy hitting and not getting hit. Sometimes when I watch him, I think it's a wonder he ever lost, which he's done six times in 62 fights. All six were close decisions. But he's not perfect. In one of his best wins, against Jhonny Gonzalez, he was getting beat for, oh, about seven rounds, before he landed a killer body shot that put Gonzalez down for the count in the 7th."

Gerry Penalosa, fighting Puerto Rican sensation Juan Manuel Lopez this Sunday morning, has been waiting for his date with Destiny for 20 years. He would send her flowers, buy her drinks, even chase her through cold winters in South Korea and Japan. She made eyes and flirted back, but invariably, she would cancel at the last minute. Destiny, that cruel, stuck-up tease.

Penalosa had boxing stardom written into his DNA. He came from a family of boxers, and his older brother Dodie Boy became world champion in the '80s, a hero who overcame childhood polio to rise to the top. Gerry honed a counterpunching style made purely of the sugar that gives the "Sweet Science" its name, and by 1997, at age 25, he was WBC World super flyweight champion.

But this all happened Before Pacman, and in days B.P., Filipino boxers, even world champions, had a hard time finding big paydays. So Gerry Penalosa's manager, Rex "Wakee" Salud, did what boxing managers do B.P.: he booked Gerry for a fight in hostile South Korea, the hometown decision capital of the world. Penalosa spent 12 rounds chasing local challenger In-Joo Cho all over the ring before losing his title in a controversial split decision. If Manny Pangilinan, Dick Gordon, and Gary Lising referee'd an Ateneo-La Salle UAAP championship match, their decision-making would be fairer.

A frustrated Penalosa accused Salud of selling him out. Penalosa complained of the conditions prior to the fight, including the lack of heat in his hotel room, a Korean driver who took them for a ride in Seoul before the fight, and other dirty tactics that he alleged Salud did not look out for. His manager, Penalosa thought, cared more about the payday than the welfare of his fighter.

Penalosa left Wakee Salud and hooked up with Rudy Salud (no relation), the boxing enthusiast and former PBA commissioner, prior to his mandatory rematch with Cho. However, the fight still had to be done in Seoul, Cho still ran around the ring, the judges still did not care much for Penalosa, and Gerry still lost a controversial decision.

Cho lost the title to Japanese Masamori Tokuyama, and Penalosa was in line to fight for the title once more. But Tokuyama in Tokyo proved as elusive as Cho was in Seoul, and Penalosa suffered not one, but two controversial decisions to the Japanese champion.

Frustrated, Rudy Salud decided to end his managerial relationship with Penalosa. Reading between the lines in his interviews, one gets the feeling that Salud felt that Penalosa had not wanted to win enough, and thus had not done nearly enough to KO the champion. For Penalosa, it was the latest in a string of bad hands, another date penciled out of the planner by Destiny.

Gerry Penalosa retired in 2002, not so much of weary fists or a battered face--Penalosa had never been knocked down in his entire career--but of a broken heart. Destiny, it seems, had finally cockblocked the former champ into submission.