Emerging ring sensation Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista, promising AJ Banal and outstanding Filipino trainer Edito “Ala” Villamor got the surprise of their lives when the great Oscar De La Hoya invited them to spend Easter in his home in Puerto Rico.
The thrill was even greater since the young Filipino fighters were joined by Sugar Shane Mosley and celebrated trainer Freddie Roach.
The undefeated Bautista who is ranked No 1 super bantamweight by the WBO battles No. 2 contender Sergio Medina of Mexico in a title eliminator on the undercard of the biggest fight in recent memory – “The World Awaits” between De La Hoya and Ring Magazine’s No. pound-for-pound fighter Floyd Mayweather Jr. The undefeated Banal will make his US debut on the same card.
Respected boxing patron Tony Aldeguer said it was “a very nice gesture” on the part of De La Hoya to invite the ALA boys to his home on Easter Sunday.
In the meantime Viva Sports/Manila Standard Today learned that conditioning expert Justin Fortune has flatly denied claims he didn’t want celebrated trainer Freddie Roach in the Filipino ring idol’s corner when he clashes with undefeated but unknown Jorge Solis in San Antonio, Texas on April 14. Fortune insisted he was not on a collision course with Roach and appealed to media not to fabricate stories to try and drive a wedge between him and Roach.
Roach owns the famed Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles and Fortune is his assistant along with others. Fortune is regarded as a conditioning expert and not a trainer in the class of Roach who is a two-time “Trainer of the Year” and is held largely responsible for turning Pacquiao into a devastating fighter.
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