by Ronnie Nathanielsz
 
In one of the biggest and most successful boxing promotions in the history of Philippine sports Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista retained his WBO Asia Pacific bantamweight title with a spectacular second round knockout of hopelessly outclassed challenger Obote “Thunder” Ameme while RP No. 1 ranked  Cesar Amonsot won the WBO Asia Pacific junior lightweight crown with a stunning eighth round KO of undefeated champion Victor Mausul of Indonesia before over 20,000 fans at the Carlos P. Garcia open air stadium Saturday night.
 
There was a perceptible Saturday night fever as the proud province-mates of Bautista who is their 19 year old “Pride of Bohol” and hometown boy Amonsot set off a night of celebration with spectacular performances that lifted the spirits and warmed the heart of a crowd that dwarfed the one that showed up at The Fort last December 11 for “Yanig sa Taguig” which featured Filipino ring idol Manny Pacquiao against Thailand’s Fahsan 3K Battery. There was an unbelievable oneness of spirit and a seldom-seen sense of togetherness that brought indefatigable and popular Mayor Dan Neri Lim and Governor Erico Aumentado together along with the three congressman from Bohol as well as major players in the private sector to stage a once-in-a-lifetime happening.
 
Among the special guests at ringside was Manila Mayor Lito Atienza, himself a tremendous supporter of boxing and a particular favorite among the people of Tagbilaran City who presented the championship belt to Bautista after he annihilated Ameme with a series of vicious body shots that took the steam out  of “Thunder,” and set off a spectacular ten-minute fireworks display.
 
The fights were telecast by Viva Sports on its top-rated weekly boxing show “The Main Event” at 1:00 p.m. Sunday over RPN 9 sponsored by Tanduay, the No.1 Rhum and PLDT. The excitement in the venue was further heightened by the presence of Viva Hot Babes Gwen Garci and Zarah Lopez who wowed the crowd when they acted as round girls in the two championship bouts.
 
Bautista who was eager to get it on after a colorful presentation of both fighters had to be restrained by international referee Bruce McTavish who ordered him back to his corner as the bell hadn’t sounded. But when it did, Bautista was in total control as Ameme failed to live up to his promise to go after the champion from the opening bell and appeared content to throw ineffective left jabs and stay out of trouble.
 
Bautista opened up at the start of the second round with some vicious body shots and as the fans roared he dropped Ameme for the first time midway in the second round before another cracking combination to the body and a ripping right to the side of the head put an end to the massacre in 1:57 of the second round.
 
While Bautista made short work of Ameme, Amonsot who has continued to live in the shadow of the charismatic youngster earned new-found respect and admiration with a sterling performance against Mausul whose leopard shorts reflected the courage and the cat-quick reflexes of a true champion. The undefeated Indonesian with a record of 8-0 with 4 knockouts took the best shots of the Filipino southpaw before he began to assert himself beginning the fourth round especially after Amonsot was deducted a point by international referee Teddy Alivio.
 
Mausul’s perfectly time lefts ripped through the defense of Amonsot early in round five before two vicious right uppercuts decked the challenger who gamely fought back towards the end of the round to survive. Both fighters engaged in some furious exchanges until the eighth round when Amonsot nailed Mausul with a cracking left to the side of the head that sent champion crashing to the canvas to be counted out. It was an amazing turnaround by Amonsot and helped cap a glorious Saturday for Boholano boxers and fight fans.
 
Bautista is scheduled to face Gerardo Espinoza on December 23 in what California boxing man and Bautista’s business manager Michael Koncz predicts will be a real test for the WBO Asia Pacific champion who has been hailed as the next Manny Pacquiao whom he looks up to. The 5’9” Espinoza has a  record of 26 KO’s in 28 wins with 9 losses many of them to top class fighters including undefeated Jose Miguel Aguiniga to whom Espinoza dropped a ten round majority decision last August 12 in Laredo, Texas.
 
Amonsot is also scheduled to make his US debut sometime in January alongside OPBF super flyweight No. 1 Z “The Dream” Gorres in a series of fights being arranged by Koncz who was instrumental in arranging fights for Bautista, Bobby Pacquiao and Diosdado Gabi earlier this year.