Saturday, 01 August 2026 · Philippines
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'BOOM BOOM' SPARS WITH BIG BOYS

CEBU CITY -- Rey 'Boom Boom' Bautista is pulling no stops in his war preparation, upping the tempo of his sparring sessions by taking on bigger guys at the famed ALA Gym here in preparation for his December 2 bout against Mexican Antonio Meza at the Araneta Coliseum topbilling the "Payback" card bankrolled by Third Force Promotion.

"So far, he now has 22 rounds of sparring for this fight. He's doing just fine," said ALA Gym chief trainer Edito Villamor yesterday.

Bautista did four rounds yesterday against junior welterweight Glenn "Masi" Masicampo, and added another two rounds against superfeatherweight Leon "Tiger" Maratas before hitting the big bags, speedball and doing other exercises.

The 12-round Bautista vs Meza will be for the WBO Intercontinental superbantamweight title, which is currently held by the Cebu-based fighter.

The 'Payback' card, which will also feature ALA fighters AJ Banal and Michael Domingo, is expected to give boxing the much-needed shot in the arm, as it aims to add more entertainment value to the sport while at the same time trying to tap the vast potentials of the Filipino fighters.

"We will do this event Las Vegas-style. We want to make the fans feel that they get value for what they will be paying for. We will make sure the fans will be entertained," said Third Force Promotion's Noli Eala, who is overseeing the success of the event.

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