Peñalosa Jr. keeps perfect slate

LAS VEGAS—Ten fights, 10 wins, 10 knockouts.

Dodie Boy Peñalosa Jr.’s ring record remained perfect as he stopped Jesus Lule-Raya of Fort Myers, Florida, in the second round to stretch his awesome knockout record on his first foreign stint here Saturday.

Proving he’s worthy of carrying the family’s boxing legacy, the power-punching Peñalosa caught Lule-Raya with a left to the mid-section followed by a right to the face that put his opponent down for the full count with only 1 minute and 12 seconds gone in their featherweight tussle scheduled for eight rounds. Lule-Raya had to be helped back to his corner.

“I’m inspired to fight for my country,” said Peñalosa, whose career appeared in jeopardy for a while due to intermittent asthma attacks.

The elder Peñalosa, a two-division world champion, said he was glad that his son did not disappoint.

“We’re grateful for the opportunity that Manny (Pacquiao) gave us,” Dodie Boy Sr. said.

Apart from his father, Peñalosa also has his uncle Gerry, and grandfather Carl to look up to as far as boxing is concerned.

Gerry is also a two-division world champion while Carl is a two-time national champion.

Ernie Sanchez also carried the Philippine colors with pride earlier, beating Philadelphian Coy Evans by unanimous decision in their 8-round super featherweight bout.

The 20-year-old Sanchez decked Evans in the third round and, although the American beat the count, the Filipino dominated the rest of the fight to win handily on the three scorecards, 77-74, 78-73, and 78-73.

Sanchez, who had at his corner Nonoy Neri, Pacquiao’s assistant trainer, improved to 14-3 with 5 knockouts.