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Philippines, 24 Feb 2026 |
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?Boom Boom? Bautista's age was not the culprit By Alex P. Vidal PhilBoxing.com Tue, 14 Aug 2007 The first round knockout defeat suffered by WBO Asia-Pacific champion Rey ?Boom Boom? Bautista in the hands of stone-fisted World Boxing Organization (WBO) superbantamweight (122 lbs) boss Daniel Ponce De Leon last August 12 in Sacramento, California, did not mean that Bautista was not yet ready to shoot for a world boxing crown. Bautista, whether he is 18 or 40 years old, had to honor an obligation to fight Ponce De Leon because he was the mandatory challenger in the division whoever is champion. His being 21 years old is not the issue when he went up the ring against the more experienced and vastly superior 27-year old De Leon. It wasn?t Bautista?s fault if he was able to roll past five Latino hombres ? Gerardo Espinoza (Unanimous Decision 8), Roberto Bonilla (KO3), Giovani Andrade (TKO4), Marino Montiel (KO3), Sergio Medina (UD 12) en route to catapulting into No. 1 spot to become a mandatory challenger. The force of De Leon?s left straight that sealed the coffin for Bautista?s title ambition weighed like a tone of bricks because it landed smack on his unguarded face. It was difficult to parry or dodge De Leon?s deadly left because Bautista is an orthodox fighter and his right fist shielded only half of his face in the right side when the howitzer-like bomb landed without any obstacle. At 21, Bautista can still rev up for more megabuck fights and he can still win a world crown as long as he has a positive attitude and will to get back in the victory column. Luisito Espinosa badly lost to Dadoy Andujar before he became WBA bantamweight champion; Manny Pacquiao was demolished by Rustico Torrecampo in three rounds before he pocketed the WBC flyweight diadem and was obliterated by Medgoen 3-K Battery before he tortured Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales; Rolando Navarette was eaten alive by Alexis Arguello before he snatched the WBC superfeatherweight title with a fifth round disposal of Cornelius Boza-Edwards; Gerry Pe?alosa was mocked by In-Jo Choo twice in as many encounters before he wrecked WBO bantamweight king Jhonny Gonzalez last August 12. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Alex P. Vidal.  |
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