FILIPINO INTERNATIONAL campaigner Rey ‘Boom Boom’ Bautista easily made the weight for his 10-round non-title fight scheduled today at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.
The 19-year-old Bautista, making his debut in the superbantamweight division, weighed-in at 121.5 lbs while his Nicaraguan foe Roberto Bonilla (22-7, 13 KO’s) registered at 121 lbs.
Bautista (19-0, 14 KO’s), a native of Candijay, Bohol, is in his third year as a professional and has claimed the World Boxing Organization (WBO) Asia-Pacific bantamweight crown. This will be Bautista’s third fight in the United States after successful campaigns in Indonesia, Japan and Korea.
Managed by Cebuano businessman Tony Aldeguer, Bautista is now also being promoted by boxing superstar Oscar Dela Hoya and his Golden Boy Promotions group.
Bautista is expected to face his toughest challenge of his career as Bonilla has fought several world title hopefuls in the past.
Among Bonilla’s opponents include Cecilo Santos, Ricardo Vargas, Luis Perez Joel Luna Zarate and Adonis Rivas.
Top-billing today’s world class card which is promoted by Golden Boy and will be shown on Solar Sports is the 12-round World Boxing Council (WBC) superfeatherweight title fight between defending champion Marco Antonio Barrera of Mexico and American Rocky Juarez.
Barrera hopes to use this fight as his springboard to get his much awaited rematch with Filipino boxing hero Manny Pacquiao before the end of the year.
Pacquiao is currently training at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood and is expected to be invited to watch today’s card by Dela Hoya’s group.
Pacquiao is set to battle Golden Boy fighter Oscar Larios of Mexico on July 2 at the Araneta Coliseum.
