REY “Boom-Boom” Bautista of the Philippines flexed extra muscles to defeat Sergio Medina of Argentina via a unanimous decision in a super bantamweight fight Saturday night (Sunday in Manila) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
The victory earned Bautista a mandatory shot at World Boxing Organization (WBO) super bantamweight champion Juan Ponce de Leon.
It was an action-packed bout between two undefeated ring warriors, but Bautista proved to be the more steadier fighter to hand Medina his first career defeat.
Bautista, who is from Candijay, Bohol, decked Medina twice– in the sixth and 11th rounds–and survived a knockdown in the seventh on the way to victory.
With the win, Bautista remained undefeated and improved his record to 23-0 with 17 KOs. Media dropped to 28-1 with 16 KOs.
Bautista was deducted a point in the 5th round by referee Robert Byrd for low blow, but negated this by flooring Medina in the sixth on a short left.
In the seventh round, it was Medina’s turn to launch and attack, connecting with good combinations to the head that bloodied Bautista and sent him reeling against the ropes.
Byrd credited Medina with knockdown, although the standing eight count may have save Bautista from further punishment.
In the next round, Bautista caught Medina with an overhead right as the two were mixing it up. Medina beat the count, but appeared hurt and simply danced his way the rest of the round.
The scores were 115-109, 116-108 and 115-109.
“He was a very tough fighter, but he hit me a lot with his head,” Bautista said. “I am ready to fight Ponce De Leon.”
The Bautista-Medina showdown was one of the undercards of the Oscar dela Hoya-Floyd Mayweather world junior middleweight battle dubbed “The World Awaits.” (With a report from AP)
