By Ronnie Nathanielsz
WBO Asia Pacific bantamweight champion Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista, the 18 year old Filipino is out to avenge the defeat suffered by Manny Pacquiao against Erik “El Terrible” Morales when he battles Mexican journeyman Gilberto Bolanos on June 4 in Cebu City in a fight that Viva Sports which will telecast the bout has billed as “A Time For Revenge.”
Bautista who is regarded as a future Manny Pacquiao because of his aggressive, hard-hitting style and his flamboyant character in the ring was christened “Baby Face” by Pacquiao’s trainer Freddieb Roach when Bautista worked out at the Wild Card Gym last March. But most fight fans believe Roach should have added the word “assassin” because that is what Bautista is in the ring.
Currently training hard at the fully-equipped and beautifully laid out ALA Gym in Cebu, the undefeated Bautista who has a record of 15-0 with 10 knockouts is not taking the punching power of Bolanos for granted. Although the Mexican’s record is not that impressive on paper having won 10 and lost 8, the fact that stands out is that all ten wins were by way of knockouts which is a testament to Bonalos’ awesome power.
In fact his last few opponents have been world caliber boxers with impressive credentials. Bonalos scored one of his most impressive victories against Roach’s protégé and a sparring partner of Pacquiao, Karen Harutyunan, who recently won the WBO North American bantamweight crown. Bolanos scored a seventh round TKO victory over Harutyunan. Bolanos also drew with undefeated Rudy Dominguez who has a record of 11-0 with one draw. He also dropped a split decision to Jose Aguiniga who is undefeated in 27 fights with 13 KO’s and us ranked No. 4 by the WBA.