ONCE again, Rey ?Boom-Boom? Bautista?s (30-1, 23KOs) much awaited ascension to the pinnacle of Philippine boxing is being put to test.
He will be facing one-time conqueror Heribeto Ruiz (46-10, 28KOs), of Mexico this Saturday night at the Cebu City Waterfront Hotel and Casino.
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FIRST FIGHT. In their encounter, the fight was pretty close the first two rounds. Then in the third round without 40 seconds remaining, it happened.
?Boom-boom? was advancing and trying to back Ruiz up into the ropes. He unloaded with a right hand which Ruiz caught on his gloves.
The latter then lashed out with a left and a right which lands on Bautista?s unguarded jaw.
He instinctively retaliates with a left hook but is caught by a quick counter-left from Ruiz and down he goes.
Ruiz comes after him and Bautista hangs on to finish the round.
Bautista rocked Ruiz in the next round but the latter owned rounds 5-7 with the cleaner blows. Round 8 was close, but when it was all over, Bautista suffered the second setback of his young career.
INJURY. Bautista cited a hand injury which prevented an optimal performance from him that night, and medical tests would later confirm its existence.
But in that fight, it was not only offense that sputtered-his leaky defense was exploited all night by the crafty veteran.
Since that fight, Bautista has done quite well, winning 4 straight via the short route, the last one being another rematch against Alejandro Barrera.
On the other hand, Ruiz has been inconsistent-winning 6 but losing 3. What is glaring however is the fact that those wins came against decrepit opposition, and he lost to good fighters with winning records.
REDUX. To his credit, Bautista has not shown any trepidation in calling out Ruiz.
Clearly the young man is eager to prove himself the better fighter and ALA Promotions was only too glad to provide him the opportunity.
That loss came at a bad time for Bautista as he was in the midst of rehabilitating his career following that shocking one-round kayo to Daniel Ponce de Leon in 2007.
The fact that Ruiz was perceived to be a handpicked opponent for his United States comeback fight only made matters worse.
Will we witness a redux of sorts for Bautista? Let?s find out on Saturday.
RESULTS. The favorites won their bouts last Sunday, but the fights were much closer than we predicted.
Carl Froch had a tough time with the boot-tough Glen Johnson. The latter scored well and was banging Froch regularly with right hands. Luckily for Froch, he had a plan B and he opted to box intelligently the second half of the fight to secure the ?W?.
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr?s fight with Sebastian Zbik could have gone either way. Compubox statistics showed that Zbik landed more punches. So how come Jr. gets the nod?
To his credit he landed the more damaging blows, especially to the body which slowed down Zbik?s attack in the latter rounds.
Still, an argument could be made for Zbik?s case. The way I see it, Chavez?s skill level is quite mundane. He?s really a plodder and lacks head and lateral movement.
Instead, he relies on his innate toughness, which is probably a Chavez family heirloom, but that can only get you so far in this business.
A fast, slick middleweight would easily take him out. For now, his handlers should steer him clear of Sergio ?Maravilla? Martinez.
LAST ROUND. It?s on a dear friend, Janet Gorne who celebrates her birthday this week. Cheers!
