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In search of a world title fight only, Gerry Penalosa is setting his sights on a 118-pound fight with Vic Darchinyan, a 115-pound titlist. Penalosa still holds the WBO bantamweight title.
The Filipino fighter says he looked for other fighters, but all of them are "unavailable." That list includes Jorge Arce, Eric Morel and Daniel Ponce de Leon. Since Ponce de Leon recently moved up to featherweight, that was highly unlikely and seems to only be a name included for name's sake.
Says Penalosa of a fight with Darchinyan:
"As long as the fight is in my division, nobody can beat me, even Darchinyan who I think will give me a good fighter, but although I know I will win by a knockout or decision."
I'm glad he's ruled out disqualifciation as a means of beating Darchinyan.
Penalosa-Darchinyan would be a nice fight, really, but I think I'd rather see Vic go back to 115 and fight Nonito Donaire, even if that means taking a less attractive mandatory challenger in the process. Darchinyan could also abandon his 115-pound title and rematch Joseph Agbeko if there's money in that, not that I'm certain there would be.