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BAUTISTA READY TO BOOM-BOOM; ABS-CBN GETS RIGHTS! By Salven L. Lagumbay PhilBoxing.com Thu, 25 Jan 2007 CEBU CITY--Top Filipino promoter Sammy 'Don King' Gello-ani announced in a press conference yesterday that undefeated Filipino boxing sensation Rey 'Boom Boom' Bautista will face his toughest test on February 24 when he dukes it out with young Colombian Feider Viloria in a 12-round battle for the vacant WBO Intercontinental and WBO Youth superbantam titles. Bautista versus Viloria will be the co-feature to the huge 'Moment of Truth' card at the Cebu City Sports Complex being put up by Golden Boy Promotions, ALA Boxing Gym and Gello-ani's SGG Sports Promotions. Television giant ABS-CBN will cover the fight, according to promoter Gello-ani. "I have the go signal to finalize deal with you. I will call you later for details," said ABS-CBN executive Peter Musngi in his message to Gello-ani. 'MOMENT OF TRUTH' The 23-year-old Viloria will provide the kind of test that fans have been clamoring to get for the hugely-popular Bautista. The Antioquia, Colombia native holds a menacing record of 18 wins, 1 loss, 1 draw with 12 KO's, and holds the WBC Latino superbantamweight title. Viloria, who bested four other candidates to face Bautista owing to his credentials and his willingness to travel to the Philippines and fight, is currently ranked WBC no. 14, WBO no. 14 and WBA no. 12 among the world's superbantamweights. Top international matchmaker Sampson 'Picasso' Lewkowicz and GBP vice-president Eric Gomez were responsible in getting the tough opponent for Bautista, as well as the opponents for Alex John Banal and Jimrex Jaca, who will be seeing action on the undercard for regional titles. FOUR TITLE BOUTS "Right now, we are contemplating on putting a total of four title fights in this card," announced Gello-ani, adding that Alex John Banal and Jimrex Jaca would most likely see action in the other two title bouts. Also present at yesterday's press conference, which attracted a good number of mediamen, were Cebu sportsman Antonio L. Aldeguer and son Michael, who manages the ALA fighters. DE LA HOYA-MAYWEATHER CARD BECKONS If victorious against Viloria, the Candijay, Bohol-raised Bautista will then moved into a WBO eliminator for the superbantam title against the undefeated Argentinian Sergio Medina on May 5 underneath the Oscar De la Hoya-Floyd Mayweather Jr super showdown. "If Bautista gets past Medina, then we are now in a better position to challenge Daniel Ponce De Leon, otherwise, we are willing to go to a purse bid," explained Gello-ani. Medina is unblemished with 28 wins and 16 KO's. The slambang February 24 card is presented in cooperation with the City Government of Cebu as it falls on the city's Charter Day Anniversary. Renowned trainer Freddie Roach will arrive in the country on February 17 to call the shots for Gorres and Bautista in the corner along with Filipino trainer Edito Villamor. 'WORLD CUP' PUSHING THROUGH Sampson Lewkowicz hits town on February 22, and will be bringing with him the official Cup which will be awarded to the winning country after the World Cup set in the Philippines sometime end of July or early August. "Let me clarify this. We have not cancelled the World Cup, we are just moving it to a later date, as a proof, we are now bringing in the official Cup. We have now arranged the safety of this very expensive Cup," said promoter Sammy Gello-ani. "So now that the World Cup is moved, we have received instructions from the WBO that the Montiel-Gorres fight should fall within the 90-day period from the purse bidding." Team Montiel, a party of five people, is set to arrive a week before the fight, while Team Viloria, party of three, planes in also at about the same time. GBP Asked for Bautista in Gorres-Montiel Card According to Gello-ani, there was a plan to put Bautista on the March 17 card featuring Marco Antonio Barrera against Juan Manuel Marquez, but that GBP execs felt that the Montiel-Gorres card would need Bautista more than the Barrera-Marquez showdown. "They were the ones who instructed us to put up a card for Boom-Boom in the Philippines," added Gello-ani. MONTIEL-GORRES WBO OFFICIALS The third man on the ring for the Fernando Montiel-Z Gorres title showdown will be New Yorker Sammy Viruet, a good friend with whom I had the chance of working together during the Ratanachai Vorapin WBO title defense against Mauricio Martinez in 2005. The all-American judges for the fight are Raul Caiz, Chuck Giampa and Denny Nelson--all respected names in the game. WBO president Paco Valcarcel is flying in to be at ringside for the fight as guest of Golden Boy, Tony Aldeguer and Sammy Gello-ani and he will be assisted by the very hard-working Leon Panoncillo, the WBO vice-president for Asia Pacific. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Salven L. Lagumbay.  |
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