BOOM BOOM BUSTED, BLOODIED AND BEATEN
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 24 Nov 2008
A badly cut and bloodied Rey ?Boom Boom? Bautista fought courageously through a third round knockdown but lost a unanimous eight round decision to tough Heriberto ?Cuate? Ruiz on the undercard of the Ricky ?Hitman? Hatton ? Paul Malignaggi IBO/Ring Magazine light welterweight title fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Saturday (Sunday in Manila).
Bautista, rated No. 1 super bantamweight by the WBO suffered a nasty cut under his right eye after a clash of heads in the third round where he was also dropped by a stinging left hook by Ruiz and although the 22 year old Filipino hurt his Mexican opponent on a couple of occasions after that, Ruiz was never in any danger of being stopped.
Ruiz was much better than expected, was in excellent shape and connected often with vicious left hooks to the body and flurries that stopped Bautista in his tracks.
Three cuts, one on the forehead which bled profusely as scalp wounds normally do, one below the right eye and one on the left hampered Bautista?s vision even as he tried gamely to overcome the handicap. To compound his woes the referee also deducted a point from Bautista for a low blow in the 7th round after warning him a couple of time before even though the low blow caught Ruiz on the side of his left thigh.
All three judges had Ruiz a comfortable winner 77-73, 78-72 with one judge scoring an 80-70 shutout.
It was Bautista?s second loss in a record of 26 wins with 19 knockouts while Ruiz, the FECOMBOX bantamweight champion improved to 40-7-2 with 23 knockouts. Ruiz is certain to move into the ratings after what many considered a huge upset while Bautista is sure to drop down from his lofty No.1 ranking.
Young Michael Aldeguer who has assumed the reins of handling the fighters of the ALA Gym from his father, respected boxing patron Tony Aldeguer, told www.insidesports.ph, Standard Today and Viva Sports in a long distance conversation after the fight that Ruiz was ?tougher than we thought.?
Aldeguer said the defeat was ?hard for everyone? but said Ruiz was ?a veteran who fought very well and really knew what to do, calculated his moves and waited for Boom Boom to come in before throwing his combinations.?
Bautista?s cut-man Tony Martin clearly couldn?t do anything to stop the bleeding which impaired the fighter?s vision which Aldeguer said was the cut on the head which was ?the biggest cut and the one that bled profusely.?
Coming a day after WBO Oriental bantamweight champion Michael Domingo?s career defining fight against Nestor Rocha was called off because Domingo was diagnosed to have Hepatitis ?B?, the Bautista defeat was another painful blow not merely to the ALA Gym but to Filipino boxing fans who were hoping that Bautista would win and move closer to another world title fight after his stunning first round KO at the hands of Daniel Ponce De Leon in a title fight on August 11, 2007.
Bautista himself told us ?I was bothered by the blood from the cut and I couldn?t see his punches. I could only see through one eye for most of the fight.? He also complained that the huge swelling on his forehead as well as the cuts were caused by head-butts and ?while the referee did nothing he deducted a point from me for a low blow.?
Bautista said ?this is the first time I was cut in a fight since I started boxing. Maybe this is a test to see whether I could be wounded but still survive.?
The young fighter from Candijay, Bohol had some consolation when Filipino fight fans applauded him as he stepped out. Bautista said ?many of them in the lobby of the MGM asked me to pose for pictures. Even though I told them I lost the fight they replied, no it was a good fight.?
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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