Negros Occidental’s Gerry Peñalosa, the World Boxing Organization bantamweight champion, stands in the forefront of the Filipino charge in the Philippines vs. The World event set at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City tomorrow.

Peñalosa, 35, will put his title on the line against Ratanachai Sor Vorapin of Thailand in the main event of the card that will also feature five Filipino fighters, including Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista and AJ “Bazooka” Banal.

It will be the first defense of the title Peñalosa won last year against Mexican Jhonny Gonzalez in California.

More importantly, a victory over Vorapin would boost Peñalosa’s stock in his attempt to land big-money fights in the United States before finally hanging his gloves for good.        

After Vorapin, foremost on Peñalosa’s mind is a rematch with Daniel Ponce De Leon, the cocky Mexican WBO super bantamweight titlist, who registered a surprisingly narrow unanimous decision win over the San Carlos City-born fighter in Las Vegas last year.

In a report posted on philboxing.com, Peñalosa conceded that the Thai is a “tough fighter and is one of the hardest punchers I have ever faced”.

Peñalosa scored a sixth round knockout victory over Vorapin eight years ago and has vowed to duplicate the smashing win tomorrow.

Banal (16-0-1, 13 KO’s) and Uruguay’s Caril “El Raton” Herrera (21-0 13 KO’s) could turn out to be the most intriguing fight in the card that will be aired over television network ABS-CBN. Both are extremely aggressive fighters, philboxing.com’s Ronnie Nathanielsz commented.

Bautista, whose lone loss came at the hands of Ponce De Leon last year, battles Mexico’s Genaro Camargo, while featherweight champion Ciso “Kid Terrible” Morales takes on South Korea’s Yoo Shin Kim.

Former world junior flyweight title challenger Bert Batawang will also be in action, this time against Indonesia’s Heri Amol, who will have the memory of his loss to former world champion Yo Sam Choi of Korea fresh on his mind.

The Korean, who was knocked down by Amol in the final round, died three days after collapsing in the ring and undergoing brain surgery.

Also in action is Michael Domingo (34-14-2, 13 KO’s), who rubs mitts with Thailand’s Thepnimit Sor Chitpattana (18-2, 7 KO’s) in a ten round bout.*

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