By Ronnie Nathanielsz
The historic battle between WBO Asia Pacific bantamweight champion and world No. 3 Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and Mexican hitman Gilberto Bolanos is shaping up to be an explosive thriller that may well surpass all the excitement over previous fights of the
teenaged champion, Bautista.
Reports from Cebu where Bautista is training at the famed ALA Gym of respected Cebu boxing patron Tony Aldeguer say the fight has the makings of a fierce and bloody war judging by the way Bautista is working out and the credentials of both fighters.
Bautista and Bolanos have 21 knockout wins between them in 34 fights which provides fight fans an idea of what this fight is likely to turn into. The iron-fisted Bolanos boasts of ten wins, all by knockouts while his eight losses has been against world-rated fighters which is likely to give him an edge in the battle with Bautista.
Bautista’s trainer Edito Villamor said that "on the basis of his record, Bolanos is dangerous in the early rounds but so is Bautista whose KO wins mostly come within three rounds. We will neutralize his power with our defense." In one of his recent fights Bolanos scored a seventh round TKO over Freddie Roach’s prized North American Boxing Organization champion Karen Harutyunan in California after drawing with the promising and undefeated Rudy Dominguez of Mexico.
Titled "El Gran Combate - A Time for Revenge" the Bautista-Bolanos showdown sponsored by Tanduay, the No. 1 Rhum will be telecast on the top-rated boxing show "Main Event" on June 12 at 1:00 p.m. over RPN 9.
