Filipino ring great Gerry Peñalosa is going the extra mile in guaranteeing that his fighter, Filipino knockout artist Kenneth Llover, climbs the ring armed to the teeth against fellow undefeated Michael Angeletti of the United States this Saturday in Tokoname, Japan.
With the fight less than five days away, Peñalosa presided over the training session of Llover at their hotel’s fitness center in Four Points by Sheraton on Tuesday.
“I really have to provide a helping hand because this is not just a big fight but a tough one at that and I have to make sure that the instructions will be relayed clearly to the fighter,” Peñalosa told DAILY TRIBUNE after the workout.
Llover and Angeletti are disputing the status of mandatory challenger to International Boxing Federation bantamweight champion Jose Salas Reyes of Mexico.
“We got to win this one so that we can get a chance to win a world crown,” said Peñalosa, who joins a training staff composed of his elder brother Carl Jr. and Dindo Campo.
Since arriving in Japan last Saturday, Llover has only gone out once and that took place on Monday during an open workout for the Japanese media.
“Kenneth’s doing fine and we are just waiting for the fight to happen,” said Carl Jr., who will be holding another light training session on Wednesday and Thursday.
If victorious, there will be an effort to import Reyes to the Philippines to defend against Llover sometime in September.
“That is the plan,” Gerry said.
“I am pretty confident that Kenneth’s going to get the job done. I can see that he is very confident of winning. He’s in high spirits and that’s a very good sign.”
The official weighin will be held on Friday at the Aichi Sky Expo, site of the fight this weekend.
Llover, 23, sport a 17-0 win-loss card with 12 knockouts, including four in the first round.
Angeletti, 29, parades a 14-0 slate with eight knockouts.
Two other Filipino fighters are seeing action on the same show: Johnriel Casimero and Vince Paras.
Three-division champion Casimero battles Luis Nery of Mexico while Paras collides with Aoi Yokoyama.