Another title shot for Gerry?

World Boxing Council president Jose Sulaiman said yesterday that Gerry Penalosa who lost in his bid to regain the WBC superflyweight title from In Joo Cho of South Korea in a rematch last Jan. 2 by a split decision "deserves another opportunity." Sulaiman said he would work with longtime friend and Peñalosa's manager, lawyer Rudy Salud, "to see how we can have it."

The WBC president said he "felt very bad" when he received a telephone call informing him that it was a split decision and indicated he knew "`that someone was not going to be very happy." Sulaiman added, "I am really sorry."

The WBC president said he was looking forward to receiving a videotape of the title fight which was covered by Vintage Television and would then be in "a better position to express my thoughts."

Sulaiman said the WBC representative, Chandru Lalwani of Indonesia, reported "a very close fight with a slight edge in favor of Cho" and that Japanese boxing manager Joe Koizumi also said it was "a close but ugly fight."

Koizumi said "Penalosa was a aggressor going forward to catch the fast-moving champ but failed to throw enough punches to win points. Cho, on the contrary, threw very light but more punches."