By Ronnie Nathanielsz
WBO Asia Pacific bantamweight champion Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista kept faith with his promise to bang and scored a smashing third round knockout victory over veteran Nicaraguan toughie Robert Bonilla at the famed Staples Center in Los Angeles . The scheduled ten round bout was one of the special attractions on the undercard of the WBC super featherweight title fight between Marco Antonio Barrera and Rocky Juarez and was shown "live" on pay-per-view on Dream TV in the Philippines.
Making his debut under Golden Boy Promotions of the great Oscar De La Hoya who was all smiles as he congratulated the undefeated 19 year old Bautista when he joined him in the ring after it was all over, Bautista won the accolades of renowned ringside commentators Col. Bob Sheridan and Dave Bontempo for a superb performance in an action-packed fight that thrilled fight fans, among them many Filipinos living in the US..
The end came at 2:36 of the third round when the 31 year old Bonilla collapsed on the canvas after an accumulation of vicious punches capped by a hard left to the body. The game opponent was counted out by referee Pat Russell as the Filipinos in the crowd cheered the charismatic banger from Bohol.
In post fight comments Sheridan said “you wouldn’t have to be an aficionado to appreciate the skills of this kid (Bautista). This kid is a polished fighter. This guy just had tremendous power, left hook, right hand, the jab, his positioning,. his footwork.” Sheridan added that after covering over 800 world title fights “ I cant think of a 19 year
old fighter that has ever looked any better than this kid.”
Bontempo was equally impressed, saying “the athleticism was remarkable , the reflexes, the movement, the things he was doing when he wasn’t punching. As impressive as the punches, how about the defense? Relaxing under pressure when punches were raining in around him he covered up and did not get hit. Excellent moves.”
Bautista entered the ring to the strains of “Pilipinas Kong Mahal” preceded by a huge Philippine flag. He was accompanied by celebrated trainer of champions Freddie Roach, talented Filipino trainer Edito “Ala” Villamor and former Cebu resident and Las Vegas boxing man Tony Martin who served as cut-man. At special ringside were well-known boxing promoter and manager Sammy Gello-ani, Golden Boy Promotions matchmaker and vice president Eric Gomez and adviser and matchmaker Sampson Lewkowicz as well as WBO Asia Pacific chairman Leon Panoncillo.
Bautista, wearing the customary black trunks of the ALA Gym of respected boxing patron Tony Aldeguer whose gym was given special mention in the ring announcer’s opening spiel along with SGG Promotions of Gello-ani, opened with a good right hand shot and weathered the initial aggression of Bonilla before he nailed Bonilla with two cracking right hands as they slugged it out toe-to-toe. Bautista staggered Bonilla with a succession of right hands forcing the Nicaraguan to back off.
Early in the second round Bautista leaned in to get leverage for his punches and the fighters heads came together with Bonilla suffering a cut on his scalp but referee Russell asked the Nicaraguan to continue fighting and Bautista pounced on him with a series of punches including an uppercut that snapped the head of Bonilla right back.
A clear low blow in round three resulted in a one point deduction against Bautista and allowed Bonilla time to recover. Bautista appeared to be fired up by the incident as Bonilla attempted to trade punches in an action-packed, slambang exchange but the hand-speed of Bautista and a barrage of punches sent Bonilla collapsing on the canvas to be counted out. This prompted Bontempo to state “that’s what future word champions look like in fights like this.”
Aldeguer was obviously elated with Bautista’s showing but moderated his elation by praising Bonilla who took some unbelievable shots but stood his ground often engaging Bautista in torrid exchanges. Aldeguer said Bonilla was “very tough” and a worthy opponent, admitting that when Bonilla got hit by several power shots “but didn’t go down, I got worried.”
Aldeguer said Bautista “takes risks and that’s what makes him an attraction.” However, the astute boxing man felt Bautista was “a little sluggish” compared to when he fought Gerardo Espinoza last January. Noting that Bautista cried when he greeted his father and mother after the fight, Aldeguer claimed there was tremendous pressure on the young fighter because people “expect so much from him” and often compare him to Filipino ring idol Manny Pacquiao. Aldeguer advised Bautista, “put you faith in the Lord and don’t mind anybody, anymore.”
