BOOM BOOM ON THE ROAD TO ?PAYBACK?
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 30 Oct 2007
Rey ?Boom Boom? Bautista is on the road to ?Payback? when he battles Antonio ?Barrio? Meza on December 2 at the Araneta Coliseum. The 21-year-old Boholano will defend his WBO Inter-Continental superbantamweight title against the Mexicali, Mexico fighter.
Bautista needs an opponent whom he can use to recover and make as a stepping stone on the way back to stardom. Just like what Vic Darchinyan (29-1, 23 KOs) did to another Cebu-based fighter Federico Catubay (20-14, 11KOs). The TKO win installed Darchinyan back to prominence after the great upset to Nonito Donaire.
Bautista is renowned as a power puncher and is very capable of sending his adversaries to the canvas. That?s the reason why he's often compared to world icon Manny Pacquiao. However, he still lacks the sturdiness which was uncovered in his bout against the more seasoned WBO superbantamweight king Daniel Ponce de Leon.
Boom Boom is aching to redeem himself from the astonishing first-round knockout loss at the hands of Ponce De Leon in the main event of the recent World Cup held in Sacramento, California in which he gave the only blemish in the record of the Philippines? victory over arch-rival Mexico.
Meza is the reigning Federaci?n de Comisiones de Box de la Rep?blica Mexicana (Fecombox) champion. He won over his last five opponents which include mediocre boxers Romel Aguilar (10-6-4), Luis Perez Vicente (18-22-0), Rodolfo Garay (6-8-0), Guadalupe Hernandez (3-9-0), and Giovanni Urbina (6-11-0), all of Mexico.
Bautista, a native of Candijay has already held the WBO Intercontinental and WBO Youth super bantamweight titles. He has shown the talent not only to knock out his opponents with either hand, but also to box proficiently over the 12 round championship distance, which many young fighters cannot duplicate.
As an amateur boxer, he won a gold medal in the 2002 National Youth Open in Cebu City, and being awarded as the Best Boxer in the amateur championships.
In 2006, Bautsita made a big flaunt on the boxing world when he knocked out Roberto Bonilla in just three rounds at Staples Center in Los Angeles in May, and stopping 61 fight veteran Giovanni Andrade in just four rounds at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Florida.
Antonio Aldeguer denied they are making it easy for Boom Boom to stage a comeback and hit a payback. He defended the choice of Meza stating the Mexican is no pushover having a record of 23-2-0 (16 KOs) and is a southpaw.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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