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LAS Vegas,
Nevada—For
a while, Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista admitted he swallowed
his pride just to make sure he will end up the winner.
The
20-year-old Filipino fighter said he got staggered by a
right straight by Sergio Manuel Medina of Argentina in
the seventh round that put him through the ropes.
“Gusto
ko agad gumanti pero sumisigaw ang corner ko na takbo
muna ako. Ayaw kong tumakbo pero naisip ko agad,
kailangan ko munang maka-recover,” said Bautista.
“Kinain ko muna pride ko. Importante ang manalo ako sa
laban.”
True
enough, Bautista immediately regained his senses after
taking several steps back.
Bautista
(23-0, 17 KOs) disclosed he was surprised with his
opponent’s style as he faced a different boxer from the
one he saw on tape.
“Naging
wild ‘yung mga suntok niya. Iba ‘yung nakita ko sa tape.
Kaya nu’ng unang round nahirapan akong tamaan siya sa
katawan,” added Bautista.
Bautista
has said time and again that he wants to end every fight
by knockout so as not to give bogus judges a chance to
steal a victory away from him.
Bautista
said he learned a lesson or two when bossom buddies Z
Gorres and Gerry Penalosa got the raw end of the deal in
their previous World Boxing Organization title shots.
Manager
Tony Aldeguer believes the one-point deduction on
Bautista by referee Robert Byrd in the fifth round for
low blow messed up their game plan.
“Bautista is more of a body puncher and not really a
head hunter. That deduction distracted Rey’s plan of
punishing
Medina
with body shots,” said Aldeguer.
Aldeguer
added
Medina did his homework as the Argentine improved a lot in covering
his body.
“He knew
Rey will go to the body and obviously he prepared long
enough to negate Rey’s attack,” said Aldeguer.
Though
Bautista admitted he got hurt big time in the sixth
round, he still considers his knockdown to Mexican
Gerardo Espinosa as the most serious one.
“’Yung
kay Espinosa nahilo talaga ako. Mali pa nga ang corner
na pinuntahan ko,” admitted Bautista.
Bautista
scored a close but well-deserved unanimous decision
despite visiting the canvass in the second round of his
eight-round fight versus Espinosa on December 2005 in El
Cajon, California.
The win
makes Bautista the mandatory title challenger to
reigning WBO Super-bantamweight champion Daniel Ponce de
Leon.
“Wala na
siyang kawala sa akin. Noon ko pa gustong kalaban si
Ponce de Leon. Wala na siyang dahilan na umiwas sa
akin,” said Bautista.
The
Ponce de Leon-Bautista fight will still undergo tedious
negotiations as the Filipino fighters management team
headed by Tony Aldeguer anticipates a hard time getting
an ideal date for the bout.
Aldeguer’s trusted lieutenant Sammy Gello-Ani said the
best date is mid-August which will give them ample time
to avoid clashing with the September 16 gig of World
Boxing Council (WBC) super-featherweight champion Juan
Manuel Marquez.
“The
Marquez fight is a Golden Boy Promotions project and we
also want enough attention to build up Rey’s next
fight,” said Gello-Ani.
Bautista
along with Gorres and Penalosa fights under the GBP
banner in partnership with Aldeguers ALA Boxing Club.
Filipino
trainer Edito Villamor said he plans to give Bautista a
two-week break but expects his boxer to break his order.
“Knowing
Rey, I expect him to at least jog after three days,”
Villamor, a two-time world title challenger, said.
*****
HE ONLY HAS TO SHOW UP
LAS Vegas,
Nevada
— What Filipino knockout sensation Florante Condes needs
to do is to just show up in Indonesia and he will be the
country’s lone world champion to date.
This was
the bold analysis of Puerto Rican boxing manager Dante
Ortiz in an exclusive interview with BusinessMirror
Monday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Ortiz
reacted to several conflicting reports about the June 16
International Boxing Federation (IBF) title challenge of
Condes versus defending champion Muhammad Rachman of
Indonesia.
“It will
definitely push through. All the agreements have been
finalized with the IBF,” said Ortiz who comanages Condes
along with Filipino Aljoe Jaro.
Ortiz
said he was given exclusive authority by Jaro to
negotiate on behalf of Condes in all his fights for the
next three years.
The
agreement between Ortiz and Jaro was signed last
September. They also have an American promotional deal
with Warriors Boxing Promotion owned by Bobby Bostick.
In an
earlier interview, Jaro disclosed he still has to sign
the Rachman fight contract after a particular agreement
was not indicated in the deal.
According to Jaro, they were guaranteed four plane
tickets to Indonesia but when he got hold of the
contract, only two tickets were specified.
Ortiz,
however, said the issue has been settled and all the
people involved in the promotion have given their
approval by signing the necessary contracts to stage the
12-round title fight.
Because
the title bout went into a purse bid, Condes will get
$3,750 which was way below the $12,000 earlier assured
by Ortiz.
The
Puerto Rican manager said he already has in his
possession an internal agreement that will make Condes
earn more than what he is expected to get in the title
fight.
Ortiz
said the contract will give Condes an additional $9,000,
win or lose. The amount will come from the partner of
Warriors promotion, Trevino Boxing Promotion.
Ortiz is
in Las Vegas where he watched the highly successful
match between superstar Oscar de la Hoya and
pound-for-pound ruler Floyd Mayweather, Jr.
Ortiz is
confident Condes will wrest the crown from the aging
Rachman, who is already ripe for retirement. “Condes has
all the tools to become a successful fighter in the
United States,”
said Ortiz.
Condes
is being groomed by Ortiz to make his United States
debut after the Filipino’s bout in Indonesia. The
Binangonan, Rizal-based Condes, the current Philippine
minimumweight champion, has a record of 21-3-1 with 20
knockouts.
He is
considered by local experts as an exciting prospect
though his division is lacking in glitter recently. The
minimumweight division once had its own share of glamour
when it was ruled by the now retired Ricardo Finito
Lopez.
During
Lopez’s reign in the 1990s, a good number of 105-lb
fighters shared significant billings in big time fights
in the United States.
The
35-year-old Rachman’s last defense was against another
Filipino, Benjie Sorolla, last December. Rachman won the
IBF crown from Daniel Reyes via split verdict last
September 14, 2004 in Jakarta. Rachman has a record of
61-5-5 with 31 knockouts. --Dennis
Principe |
