IBF SUPERVISOR PREDICTS GREAT FIGHT BETWEEN "BOOM BOOM" AND RUIZ
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 09 Jun 2011
Ray Wheatly.
IBF supervisor Ray Wheatley of Australia predicts "a great fight" when Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista seeks to avenge an earlier loss to Mexican warrior Heriberto "Cuate" Ruiz in an IBF International featherweight title fight at the Waterfront Hotel and Casino in Cebu on Saturday.
Ruiz won an eight round unanimous decision over Bautista after dropping him in the third round on the undercard of the Ricky "Hitman" Hatton - Paulie Malignaggi world title fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas in 2008.
However, Bautista complained off a painful left hand and a post fight medical examination showed he had a rotten bone in his left wrist. Bautista underwent surgery to replace the rotten bone with a piece of bone from his hip. He took almost one year off for therapy and has won four fights in a row, all by knockout, since his return.
Bautista said his only two losses, a first round KO in a WBO super bantamweight title fight against menacing Daniel Ponce De Leon and the loss to Ruiz were both "painful." But he explained that in the Ruiz fight he "couldn't do anything because my hand hurt. It is difficult to fight with pain in your hand. I will never forget that loss. But I am now more mature and I can fight better.?
A confident Ruiz speaking through his manager Fernando Dominguez who served as interpreter said he had "trained for three weeks for our first fight but now I trained for three months. I came here to win."
Having watched the tape of Bautista's 3rd round knockout victory over fellow Mexican Alejandro Barrera, a cousin of the legendary Marco Antoinio Barrera, Ruiz noted that Bautista "has improved but he has to prove it. You'll see on top of the ring the kind of preparation I made.?
Ruiz said he would probably win by a knockout but indicated he is prepared to go twelve rounds if he has to.
Bautista, looking far more focused and confident after an excellent training camp said ?If he is ready, I am more ready.I am not emotional about this fight. I lost to him before but I am not dwelling on vengeance. It will not affect my mindset inside the ring. There is no pressure, I am ready.?
Wheatley told a pre-fight press conference "Both Ruiz and Bautista are fighters and the fastest growing good featherweights who are both world rated. This promises to be a great fight and as we all know Ruiz won the first fight but Bautista had an injury. I'm sure this is going to be a really good battle."
The IBF official said he saw Ruiz fight in Australia and beat Ugandan born Jackson Asiku in what Wheatley described "as one of the best fights of the year in Australia." It was an action packed bout in which Asiku connected with powerful combinations and shots to the head, dropping Ruiz three times in round eight before referee Brad Griffiths called a halt at 2:56 of the round.
Wheatley said Ruiz "comes to fight so Bautista will have his hands full but I'm sure its going to be a great fight."
The fight card titled "Grudge Rematch" will be telecast by the giant broadcast network ABS-CBN on Sunday over its pre-eminent Channel 2 beginning at 10:15 a.m.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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