Gerry Peñalosa is giving himself three more fights before finally deciding to call it quits.

But Peñalosa, who defends his World Boxing Organization (WBO) bantamweight crown this weekend, is not looking past Ratanachai Sor Vorapin of Thailand, who the 35-year-old Filipino southpaw faces at the Araneta Coliseum on Sunday.

“Vorapin remains a dangerous foe but when I decided to accept this fight, I was certain that I would be able to beat him again with proper training,” said Peñalosa yesterday during the weekly PSA Forum.

Peñalosa and Sor Vorapin had crossed paths in Nov. 2000 with Penalosa carving out a knockout victory.

But things have changed since that eventful night at the Amphitheater inside Casino Filipino in Parañaque as the Thai slugger has sprang back to contention and is even unbeaten in his last seven fights, including six of those wins via the short route.

And this is the reason why Peñalosa trained 10 weeks, including five spent under the tutelage of Freddie Roach at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood.

“I trained long and hard for this one and I just hope that the Filipino people will rally behind me,” said Peñalosa, who had snatched the WBO 118-lb title with a one-punch, seventh-round stoppage of Mexican Johnny Gonzalez last August in Sacramento, California.

Peñalosa, who turned professional in 1989, holds a 52-6-2 win-loss-draw card with 35 knockouts, while Sor Vorapin totes a 72-9-0 ledger, 48 of those wins insid ethe distance.

Should he dispose of the 31-year-old Vorapin, Peñalosa will battle Daniel Ponce De Leon, the Mexican standout who is best remembered for taking out Filipino hopeful Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista in less than a round on the same night Penalosa struck against Gonzalez at the Arco Arena.

Peñalosa said Golden Boy Promotions (GBP), owned and operated by Oscar De La Hoya, has assured him of a shot at Ponce De Leon in July and in the event he emerges triumphant, next in line will be Rafael Marquez, the younger brother of Juan Manuel.

After fulfilling his mission of having three fights this year, Peñalosa said he will definitely hang up his gloves and dedicate more time to his family.

Peñalosa actually had retired in early-2002 after failing to regain the World Boxing Council super-flyweight title in several attempts under the guidance of the illustrious lawyersportsman Rudy Salud.

But Peñalosa made a comeback two years later and soon was back in the limelight.

The Peñalosa-Sor Vorapin showdown will be preceded by several equally-exciting matchups with Bautista colliding with Genaro Camargo of Mexico and super-fly AJ “Bazooka” Banal clashing with Caril Herrera of Uruguay. Two other top bouts will feature light-fly Bert Batawang against an Indonesian and Ciso Morales dueling with a South Korean.

Promoter Sammy Gelloani said it was only fitting that GBP and ABS-CBN are dubbing the slugfest “Invasion” since there would be five fighters from five foreign nations taking part in the event that starts at 8 a.m. so viewers from overseas – especially from the US – can watch it on primetime.

GBP is prioritizing the event that some of their high-ranking officials will be at ringside. GBP vicepresident Eric Gomez, a childhood friend of De La Hoya, and matchmaker Sampson Lewkowicz, were scheduled to arrive last night.

Gello-ani revealed that the final press conference, where all the major players are going to be in attendance, will take place tomorrow at the Gateway Mall, while the official weigh-in follows on Saturday at 10 a.m. also at the Gateway Mall.