Budding Filipino ringster Rey ‘Boom Boom’ Bautista inched closer to becoming a legitimate world beater by defeating Mexican toughie Gilberto Bolanos via 6th round Technical Knockout (TKO) win the other night at the Mandaue Cultural and Sports Complex in Mandaue City, Cebu, Philippines.
The Candijay, Bohol-native Bautista, who will turn 19 on June 19, opened up an ugly cut on Bolanos’ right eye in the third round and continued to pounce on the said gash, until the Mexican called it quits just before the start of the 6th round.
The usually impulsive Bautista showed maturity and poise during the first two rounds by discomfiting Bolanos with his meticolous jabs and body shots in their curtailed 10-round non-title match.
Bautista, the current World Boxing Organization (WBO) Asia-pacific bantamweight champion, then lowered the boom on Bolanos in the 3rd round by flooring the latter with a cracking right uppercut to the delight of about 6,000 throng who witnessed the fight.
The teenage sensation continued his assault in the 4th round with perfectly-time combos that lacerated Bolanos’ right eye.
Sensing blood, Bautista eagerly tried to move in for the kill in the 5th round, momentarily disregarding his cut-and-dried game plan that in some way gave his visiting foe few opportunities to connect with jabs and wild left-right combinations.
However, three solid left hooks to the body by Bautista discernibly weakend Bolanos until the bell signalling the end of the 5th round saved the Mexican from the Filipinos’ intensified assault.
Bolanos, realizing that he has had enough of Bautista’s blows, finally retired on his stool before the 6th round.
The win upped Bautista’s record to 16-0, with 12 KO’s and justified his meteoric rise in the latest WBO rankings where he is now the third-ranked challenger to titleholder Ratanachai Sor Vorapin of Thailand.
Bautista created a stir last year when four of his five foreign foes ended up in the hospital for precautionary treatment after being battered by the teenage sensation’s crushing blows.
Out of eight fights last year, Bautista fought and won over five foreign opponents in a span of five months and these were against Indon Hengky Wuwungan via 3rd round TKO in Jakarta, Indonesia, Korean Jong Wan Kim by way of 10th round split verdict in Uijongbu, Korea, Hirokatsu Yamazaki (TKO3; Yamasaki, Japan), Thai Saensak Singmanassak ((TKO2; Cebu) for the WBO AsPac crown, and Indon Christian Casino (TKO1; Bohol).
Bautista continued his domination of foreign foes this year when he outclassed South African Vyusile Bebe for 12-rounds in a WBO title defense before crushing Thai Aree Phosuwunggym inside five rounds three months ago in his US debut in Hawaii.
Bautista will now train his sights on major career moves by his management team in the coming months, among them are some minor but meaningful fights in the United States
