The fight that never was in Las Vegas between reigning WBO Asia Pacific bantamweight champion, Rey ‘Boom-Boom’ Bautista, and trial-horse Gilberto Bolanos of Mexico was actually slated last April 8 at the Orleans Hotel and Casino under the promotion of Guilty Boxing. It was the main supporting bout to the WBA Fedecentro flyweight title defense of Jose Luis Araiza of Mexico against the hard-hitting Francisco Paredes in the internationally televised “Guilty Fight Night.”
The fight that could have been the Las Vegas debut of the undefeated 18-year-old boxing phenomenon, however, never took place as the manager of Bautista, Tony Aldeguer, opted to concentrate on his training rather than accept the fight.
“Although the fight in Las Vegas was already scheduled, I decided to pull out Bautista because I felt then that training under Freddie Roach at his Wild Card gym in Hollywood was top priority because it was the main reason why I brought him to the States,” disclosed Aldeguer.
The cancellation elicited some nasty rumor at the Wild Card gym that Aldeguer was avoiding a fight between his prized-ward Bautista against the dangerous and hard-hitting Bolanos.
It is notable to mention that Bolanos, the Mexican hitman had earlier beaten a Freddie Roach-trained Armenian Karen Haruthunyan by a seventh round technical knockout last August 6, 2004 in Montebello, California.
Harutyunan was a regular sparmate of the Philippine’s national boxing icon, Manny Pacquiao, when the latter trained for his fights against Barrera and Morales.
“I must caution the public not to take Bolanos lightly. He is not a handpicked opponent destined to be slaughtered by Bautista,” warned international promoter Sammy Gello-ani, who added that the Bautista-Bolanos war is just an unfinished business in Las Vegas between the two fighters.
The 27 year old Bolanos, who hails from Obregon City, Mexico boasts of a fearsome fight record of 10-8-1 win-loss-draw with 10 all of his wins by knockout.
The Bautista – Bolanos historic battle set on June 11 at the Mandaue City Sports Complex is promoted as “El Gran Combate – A time for Revenge”, which expects Bautista to seek revenge for the defeat of Pacquiao at the hands of Mexico’s legendary Eric “El Terible” Morales.
A star-studded cast is being lined up featuring WBA world-rated Bert Batawang and promising Caesar Amonsot, who is fresh from his triumphant mission in Indonesia and the professional debut of three former amateur standouts from the ALA stable, whose names will be soon be revealed once they have secured their GAB license.
