Boom Boom not the first Pinoy pug to suffer first round KO in title fight
By Alex P. Vidal
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 14 Aug 2007
There is nothing to be ashamed of for fans and handlers of baby-faced Rey ?Boom Boom? Bautista.
The 21-year-old junior featherweight phenom from Candijay, Bohol was not the first Filipino fighter to suffer a humiliating first round stoppage defeat in a world title match.
Flyweight contender Diego de Villa owns the distinction of being the first Filipino boxer to be ambushed and demolished in the opening round of a world championship duel.
De Villa, 24, a prot?g? of the late promoter and manager Grego Garcia, was knocked out in the first round by Joo-Do Chun in a battle for the International Boxing Federation (IBF) flyweight title in Pusan, South Korean on March 17, 1984.
When De Villa was pulverized, he was fighting as a challenger like Bautista who was No. 1 contender and mandatory challenger of World Boxing Organization (WBO) superbantanweight ruler Daniel Ponce De Leon when they fought in the main event of the Mexico versus Philippines World Cup in Sacramento, California last August 12.
The Philippines is actually ahead, 3-2, in world title fights that ended in the first round.
Three of these first-round-KO wins were registered by the following brown bombers:
-Roberto Cruz who tore to pieces Battling Torres for the World Boxing Association (WBA) junior welterwerweight rumble in Los Angeles, California after the World War II;
-Gabriel ?Flash? Elorde, who disposed of Harold Gomes in their rematch for the world junior lightweight crown in San Francisco, California in August 1960 (they first clashed for Gomes? title on March 16, 1960); and
-Luisito Espinosa, who grabbed the WBA bantamweight tiara with a shock upset of Kaokor Galaxy in Bangkok, Thailand in 1989.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Alex P. Vidal.
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