Boholanos Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista and AJ “Bazooka” Banal will carry the Filipino battle flag today with four other Philippine boxers as they fight it out with Mexico’s best in the World Cup of Boxing at the Arco Arena in Sacramento, California.
After his two stablemates failed in their title quests this year, Bautista is next in line to carry out the uphill challenge of fulfilling the longtime dream of ALA Boxing Gym top honcho Antonio Lopez Aldeguer to have a legitimate world champion.
The undefeated Bautista who turned 21 last June faces the biggest challenge of his budding career when he takes on knockout artist and defending WBO super bantamweight kingpin Daniel Ponce de Leon today for the World Cup’s main event.
Bautista’s two comrades – Czar Amonsot of this city and Z “The Dream” Gorres were not fortunate when they bowed on points to their respective foes in their recent world title fights.
Meanwhile, Banal, another rising ALA star, will face a new foe in Jorge Cardenas in a six-round super flyweight duel as the undercard first bout.
The 18-year-old native of Sambog, Corella, Bohol was originally set to take on ex-WBC light flyweight king Eric Ortiz but Ortiz was summoned to face Z Gorres, whose original opponent Gerson Guerrero was scrapped from the card due to a detached retina.
Nicknamed “Veneno” or poison, Cardenas holds a 9-3-3 win-loss-draw slate spiked with 6 KOs. Banal on the other hand, is unbeaten in 13 fights that include one draw with 10 KOs. His previous fight was an 8-round unanimous win over Juan Alberto Rosas in his US debut last May 5 at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
