Whatever the outcome of his fight on Sunday, Filipino boxing fans won't be seeing the last of grizzled warrior Gerry Peñalosa inside the ring.

Already in the twilight of his career, Peñalosa, who started his professional career in 1989, shrugged off retirement talks, saying he still has so many plans, after his duel against Mexican champion Daniel Ponce De Leon at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

"I want to fight the best," Peñalosa told maxboxing.com. "So Ponce is one of the best. There are more out there. So I have to beat the best to fight the other best."

Although the odds are stacked against the 34-year-old southpaw from San Carlos City, he believes the scheduled 12-rounder for the World Boxing Association bantamweight belt against won't go the distance.

"I believe the fight (with Ponce-De Leon) will not go the distance," Peñalosa, who won the WBC super-flyweight title more than a decade ago, said in the pre-fight press conference Thursday.

In a report posted at philboxing.com, Peñalosa said he must win "convincingly and winning by knockout eliminate all other complications."

After spending most of his career fighting in Asia, Peñalosa said he is excited by the fact that the whole world will be watching his fight, which is scheduled underneath the card, dubbed "Fearless" and topbilled by Mexican greats Marco Antonio Barrera and Juan Manuel Marquez.

"That's what I want, that's what I need. I fought many times in my country, Asian countries, but I wasn't given a chance to fight in the USA. This time, I'm excited because I know the whole world will be watching this fight," he added.

Philboxing.com also reported that Peñalosa did some light workout Thursday afternoon at the IBA gym and was already within the 122-pound limit when he weighed in at an unofficial scale.

"I am ready and I am confident that I will become world champion once again," said Peñalosa, who got another morale boost when his wife, Goody, and their two kids flew in from Manila early this week.

The Filipino boxer said he believes his style will offset the size and strength advantages of Ponce, who is eight years his junior.

"I feel very good and I think this is the fight that will define my career. I have never trained harder than for this fight and I have prepared long and hard for this one. This is the fight that I have been waiting for," added Peñalosa.

The boxing website also said that Peñalosa's, chief trainer and manager Freddie Roach, speaking by long distance phone call from Puerto Rico, wished the Filipino well.

"Without a doubt, Gerry will become champion," Roach said. "He will kill the guy (Ponce De Leon). Gerry is still one of the best pure boxers out there and he will prove it to everyone come fight night."

In a separate interview with maxboxing.com, Justine Fortune, who is in charge of physical conditioning for all of the Wild Card boxers, including Penalosa, had nothing but praises for the San Carlos City-born boxer.

"He's a lot more serious, a lot quieter," Fortune said, in contrasting Peñalosa to the atmosphere brought by another Wild Card boxer, Manny Pacquiao.

"Obviously, he's not as famous as Manny, who has delayed his return to the gym several times with an April 14th fight pending against Jorge Solis. I know where he is," Fortune added. "He always shows up on time, too." *CPT

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