CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Games and Amusements Board (GAB) on Thursday named Filipino boxer Kenneth “Lover Boy” Llover as its Boxer of the Month for January 2025 after he successfully defended his Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) bantamweight title against Chinese fighter Ayati Sailike in Tokoname, Japan.
GAB officials conferred the monthly award on Llover based on his performance in the sanctioned OPBF title bout that took place in January in Tokoname.
Llover, who fights under GerryPens Promotions, retained his OPBF bantamweight crown by scoring a second-round knockout against Sailike in their scheduled championship fight.
Llover entered the title defense as the reigning OPBF bantamweight champion and maintained his standing in the regional sanctioning body’s rankings with the victory.
Two-division former world champion Gerry Peñalosa, who trains and manages Llover under GerryPens Promotions, prepared the boxer for the January title defense in Japan.
GAB included Llover in its official ratings for professional boxers and updated his status by adding the January Boxer of the Month citation to his record.
The regulatory agency announced the recognition as part of its regular monthly awards program that highlights Filipino professional boxers who deliver notable performances in GAB-supervised and internationally sanctioned fights.
Officials from GerryPens Promotions confirmed Llover’s receipt of the GAB Boxer of the Month honor and cited his knockout win over Sailike in Tokoname as the key result that secured the award.
Fight organizers in Japan recorded the bout as a successful OPBF bantamweight title defense for Llover and forwarded the official result to GAB and the OPBF for ratification and record updating.
GAB stated that it based its January Boxer of the Month selection on Llover’s decisive title-retention victory and on the level of competition presented by Sailike as a foreign challenger in a regional championship contest.