Few weeks ago, Rey “Boom Boom Bautista” got what could be the warmest welcome he has gotten in his life when he came back to Tagbilaran, Bohol, despite suffering a brutal first-round, first-ever knockout defeat in 24 fights at the hands of reigning World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior featherweight titlist David Ponce de Leon of Mexico. Bautista’s shocking defeat was the only setback for the Philippines in its six-bout World Cup with Mexico on Aug. 11.
In a short interview before he left the ring. Bautista, 20, said that “he felt ashamed.” Many however felt that the young man from Candijay and Tagbilaran, Bohol, still has the stuff to be the next big star of Philippine boxing simply because time, among other things, is on his side.
At that young age, Bautista and people like Tony Aldeguer and Sammy Gello-Ani, who take good care of him and everyone else under their guidance, can make the necessary adjustments for Boom Boom to move forward as if nothing happened. Bautista simply walked into a big punch that came from someone who is regarded as one of the heaviest hitters of boxing.
As Aldeguer stressed in a telephone conversation I had with him yesterday morning, “Boom Boom is raring to go and wants to get up. He’s no different from a pilot who wants to recover from a crash or from someone who stumbled and picks himself up from the floor.”
No doubt, Aldeguer, Gello-Ani and who others who know their boxing and have nothing but the best of intentions for Bautista, have inspired Boom Boom to make that comeback. Others who have strengthened Bautista’s resolve are restaurateur Mario Uy who owns Mira Villa, undoubtedly the best seafood restaurant in Tagbilaran, and sports journalist Tony Pernia who also happens to own a bakery that connoisseurs have said is the best in Bohol.
Uy, who sports the rank of Deputy Mayor, a title given him by Tagbilaran City mayor, Dan Neri Lim, and several others, including Pernia, organized the hero’s welcome for Bautista when he arrived from his unsuccessful foray in Sacramento.
Uy said that Lim, who was in Sacramento to give Bautista the much-need morale boost, could not however lead the welcome ceremonies that started at the Tagbilaran wharf because of an important pre-set out-of-town engagement. Lim, however, instructed Uy to leave no stone unturned in spreading out the welcome mat for the fallen warrior.
The welcome ceremonies included a motorcade through the major streets of Tagbilaran, a press conference, an interview with radio station Dyrd that was carried nationwide via internet and a dinner well-attended by Tagbilaran’s who’s who.
The welcome merited the attention of ABS-CBN which had news anchor Bernadette Sembrano asking Uy about the unusual burst of activity for Bautista. Uy’s response was simply, “Win or lose, all of us, from the mayor down to the last citizen are behind Boom Boom. We love him.”
Asked about whether there would be similar welcome ceremonies in Candijay, the birthplace of Bautista, Pernia simply stated, “Some of Boom Boom’s relatives have become swell headed that the Candijay folk themselves opted to join the welcome in Tagbilaran, where Boom Boom now resides with his mother (who chose to leave Candijay and settle down in Tagbilaran after Boom Boom’s string of victories).”
If everything goes as planned, Bautista will be back in the ring around the first week of December at the Araneta Coliseum in a promotion that will also possibly feature, AJ Banal and Michael Domingo, two of the five victorious pugilists in the Philippines vs. Mexico World Cup. Z Gorres could still be part of the card although an upcoming bout in Puerto Rico in October could douse cold water on Gorres’s participation.
On the road back to his quest for a title, Bautista can consider international star Manny Pacquiao’s career as instructive. Pacquiao was knocked out by fellow southpaw Rustico Torrecampo with one punch, a left straight, to the chin in the eighth round early in Pacquiao’s career. Pacquiao who had to pay a fine for being overweight for the flyweight bout and was not, according to then manager Rod Nazario, properly prepared for the fight, wore eight-ounce gloves. Torrecampo wore six-ounce gloves.
Bautista just has to be more careful about being hit too much. Pacquiao’s knockout loss came after being hit solid by one solitary punch. In Bautista’s case, De Leon hammered him with many punches before referee Jon Schorle stepped in to stop the fight.
