Last 10 October 2010, Gerry had his last fight against a game Thai boxer, Yodsaenkeng Kietmangmee, in Zamboanga City. He earned his career 37th knockout out of the 55 wins or 67.3% knockout rate. That is an amazing feat to knockout almost 7 out of 10 opponents. He ended his illustrious 21-year boxing career with two world championship belts in two weight divisions (superflyweight and bantamweight), and a record of 55-8-2 with 37 knockouts.
Gerry provided us with memorable bouts, notably against Kawashima where he won the WBC superflyweight title in 1997, against Daniel Ponce de Leon in 2007, and against Gonzalez for his WBO bantamweight title in 2007. His desire to win another title motivated him to be back to the ring after two years of self-declared hiatus in boxing. Who could forget that one-shot to the body of Johnny Gonzalez that brought the former champion to his knees?
It was a dream come true for Gerry to win another world championship belt for the Philippines. At that time, Pacquiao had already become a household name in the boxing world by beating the Mexican greats successively. And then, another Filipino boxer, Nonito Donaire, Jr., shocked the boxing world by knocking out the unbeaten Darchinyan to wrest the IBO and IBF flyweight belts. On the same year, Donnie Nietes won the WBO minimum weight champion. The year 2007 was a banner year for Filipino boxers.
Gerry defended his title before a home crowd in the Philippines the next year.
He moved up to super bantamweight to challenge the reigning and unbeaten champion, Juan Manuel Lopez. Gerry lost and posted his first knockout loss via a 9th round technical knockout.
Early this year, Gerry wanted another try at the bantamweight division for the vacant WBO interim title by engaging Eric Morel in a 12-round slugfest. Although bloodied in the later rounds, Gerry stood his ground. The official decision did not go his way, but many thought he won that fight.
Gerry did not want his boxing career to end in a losing note. So he wanted to showcase his tactical fighting skills for his last fight in the Philippines. And he did, to the delight of his fans.
According to the great boxing coach and trainer Freddie Roach, Gerry is "the best technical boxer that ever came from the Philippines." This is affirmed by many Filipino boxing analysts and experts.
Surely, Gerry will not go away from boxing. He said that boxing is his life. He will be around, but not inside the ring. He wants to train and produce another Filipino world champions, thus cementing the elite position of the Philippines in the boxing world.
Thank you Gerry.
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