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Philippines, 16 Feb 2026 |
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BAUTISTA MAY FIGHT ON PACQUIAO-DE LA HOYA CARD By Ronnie Nathanielsz PhilBoxing.com Sun, 31 Aug 2008  WBO Intercontinental super bantamweight champion Rey ?Boom Boom? Bautista may see action on the undercard of one of the biggest fights in the history of boxing between Filipino ring idol and national treasure Manny Pacquiao and ?The Golden Boy? Oscar De La Hoya at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on December 6. Nothing is definite about the fight but the 22 year old Bautista said in a post-fight interview after demolishing Mexican challenger Eden ?Anestesista? Marquez that he was hoping he would get a chance to fight on the Pacquiao-De La Hoya card. www.insidesports.ph learned that prior to the WBA super flyweight title eliminator between AJ ?Bazooka? Banal and Panama?s Rafael Concepcion, the plan was to put Banal on the card but that fizzled out after the southpaw?s stunning defeat. As a result Bautista, who is also tied up with Golden Boy Promotions, is now being considered following his impressive showing on Saturday. In fact no less than De La Hoya expressed confidence right after the loss of Bautista to Ponce De Leon, that Bautista would recover and eventually become a world champion. Although Bautista is ranked No. 2 by the WBO, youthful handler Michael Aldeguer who has taken over the mantle of the ALA Promotions from his highly respected father, boxing patron Tony Aldeguer, said they wouldn?t rush Bautista into a title fight just yet and want to match him against really strong, world-rated contenders. Bautista who suffered his only loss in a devastating first round knockout to the menacing Daniel Ponce De Leon in the Philippines-Mexico World Cup in August 11, 2007 in Sacramento has since regained his confidence and redeemed his following among fight fans with his third straight victory since then. Bautista?s showing against the tough Marquez who entered the ring at the jam-packed Waterfront Hotel with a record of 12 knockouts in 16 wins against 3 losses and 3 draws and had trained over two months for the Bautista showdown proved the Ponce De Leon setback was clearly behind him. But the sell-out crowd in a typically classy setting that is a hallmark of ALA boxing promotions and the giant broadcast network ABS-CBN were worried sick in the opening round when Bautista hardly threw a punch and got caught a couple of times by solid shots from Marquez. His confidence boosted by Bautista?s cautious start and refusal to engage, Marquez quickly learned too late that ?Boom Boom? had a fight-plan when he suddenly exploded in devastating fashion dropping the Mexican with a cracking left hook at 1:11 seconds of the second round. With fights fan on their feet cheering him on Bautista went for the kill and nailed Marquez with a vicious right hook and smashed him to the canvas with a grazing left had as he was going down. Internationally respected referee Bruce McTavish, a New Zealander who has made his home in Angeles City quickly moved in as Marquez rose to beat the count and when McTavish asked Marquez whether he was alright he decided to call it quits giving McTavish no choice but to call a halt to a potential massacre. The end came at 1:08 of the second round and with the TKO win Bautista improved to 26-1 with 19 knockouts while Marquez who suffered only the second TKO of his career dropped to 16-4-3 with 12 knockouts. The 23 year old Marquez was coming off a third round KO win over Ernesto Rivera, a veteran of 39 fights last June 28 but the power of Bautista proved too much for the game Mexican. The win by the promising youngster added to the growing list of Mexicans who have fallen prey to Filipino boxers. Pacquiao is the leading ?Mexican Assassin? having demolished a long roster of Mexicans including such legends as Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik ?El Terrible? Morales. Bautista explained his cautious opening round saying that the strategy was to feel out Marquez to see what he had since they hadn?t been able to get any fight tapes of the Mexican. But Bautista?s handlers indicated the 22 year old carried it too far and hardly used his jab which is what he was instructed to do in the opening round. The complete turnaround in the second round was when his trainer and cornerman Edito ?Ala? Villamor, a former two-time world title challenger, instructed Bautista to step up the tempo, not allow Marquez to get into his rhythm and grow in confidence and turn aggressor which Bautista carried out with a vengeance. Top photo: Rey Bautista (R) lands a left cross to the chin of Eden Marquez during their fight Saturday night at the Waterfront Hotel & Casino in Cebu City.  L-R: ALA President Michael Aldeguer, Trainer Edito Villamor, WBO Vice-President Leon Panoncillo, Jr., Bautista, GAB Commissioner Angel Bautista, and Marquez.  Referee Raul Caiz Jr., raises the hands of Donnie Nietes in victory after as (from left) ALA President Michael Aldeguer, WBO Vice-President Leon Panoncillo, Jr. and GAB Commissioner Angel Bautista look on. The popularity of Bautista as demonstrated by the wildly cheering fans who exulted over his victory justified his fight being billed as the main event above the WBO minimum weight title fight of champion Donnie ?Ahas? Nietes who also scored a classic second round knockout against Eddy ?Torito II? Castro of Nicaragua. Nietes decked the smaller Castro with a wicked right straight followed by a hard body shot and then sent him crashing to the canvas with a vicious right straight at 2:49 seconds of the second forcing Games and Amusements Board head Dr. Nasser Cruz to jump into the ring to check on Castro who was later taken to his corner and examined before being allowed to leave the ring. It was Nietes? first defense of the title he won on September 30, 2007 with a unanimous twelve round decision over Thailand?s Pornsawan Kratringdaenggym The comparatively long layoff didn?t show and Nietes looked sharp and confident in demolishing Castro, the WBO world No. 9. Nietes moved to 23-1-3 with 14 knockouts while Castro fell to 12-4-1 with 9 knockouts. Nietes was heavily favored to beat the Nicaraguan challenger who had lost a six round points decision to Roberto Meza in his last fight on February 29 but the manner in which he did it was truly impressive. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.  |
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