Rey (Boom Boom) Bautista said the other day he lost to WBO superbantamweight champion Daniel Ponce de Leon fair and square in Sacramento last August but confided ? for the first time ? he fought with a swollen left hand that ended his sparring abruptly two weeks before the bout.
?I don?t want to make it an excuse,? said Bautista in Pilipino. ?I just felt if I didn?t hurt my left hand in training, I could?ve hurt him, too. I never got to connect. He beat me to the punch. My mistake was I tried to fight back when I should?ve stayed away.?
Bautista admitted he strayed from trainer Freddie Roach?s plan to box from long range until the middle rounds then go for the kill.
?I wanted to get it over with,? he continued. ?When I went down for the first time, I told myself I?ll fight back. He?s only human. I know he?ll get hurt if I hit him. I didn?t use my head. Before I knew it, I was down again. I regret what I did.?
Bautista said he learned a lot of lessons from his first pro setback.
?I was so embarrassed,? he said. ?I let my countrymen down. I wanted to win the title so badly for our country. But I have nothing to be ashamed of. I lost to a great champion, someone with a name. I just didn?t lose to anybody. I lost to Ponce de Leon. Someday, we?ll fight again and I hope to pay him back for what he did to me.?
What surprised Bautista was Ponce de Leon?s physique for the fight.
At the weigh-in the day before the bout, Bautista said he looked a little bigger than the Mexican. But on the night of the fight, Ponce de Leon appeared to have put on at least 15 pounds overnight.
?I saw Ponce de Leon injected with an IV after the weigh-in,? said Bautista. ?We don?t use that. We just eat. I don?t know what they put in his body but it got so much bigger the next day.?
Bautista?s manager Michael Aldeguer said he?s not pushing for another title shot until two years from now. Aldeguer said Bautista?s next fight against Mexican Antonio (Barrio) Meza will decide his future on Dec. 2 at the Araneta Coliseum.
?It?s make or break for Boom Boom,? said Aldeguer. ?My father (Tony) wanted a tough opponent and rejected the first fighter recommended by Golden Boy, Chito Rios, because he was once knocked out by Esau Gaona who was recently stopped by A. J. Banal in one round. So (matchmaker) Sampson (Lewkowicz) signed up Meza.?
Meza, a southpaw, has a record of 23-2, with 16 KOs, compared to Bautista?s 23-1, with 17 KOs.
?If Boom Boom wins over Meza, we might put up another fight for him in the Philippines before bringing him back to the US,? said Aldeguer. ?We?re not thinking of another crack at Ponce de Leon for the moment. We?ll see how Boom Boom does against Meza first and take it from there.?
Bautista, 21, said he?s eager for payback.
?I?m still young,? he said. ?I lost to Ponce de Leon by knockout. Manny Pacquiao also lost by knockout early in his career. Since losing to Ponce de Leon, I haven?t stopped training. I want to prove myself all over again. I want to prove I can rise from a fall and bring honor to our country.?
Aldeguer said he will invite Roach to work Bautista?s corner for the Meza fight.
As for Banal, he will take on Mexican Jovanny (Bambino) Soto in the undercard.
Banal, 18, is unbeaten with a record of 15-0-1, including 12 KOs. The left-handed WBO Youth superflyweight champion will stake his crown against Soto in a 12-rounder. Soto, 23, has a record of 25-7-1, with 20 KOs.
Aldeguer said he?s not rushing a title shot for Banal.
?Golden Boy wants to put A. J. in another US card,? said Aldeguer. ?They call A. J. the next Filipino world champion. But we?re not in a hurry to get a title shot.?
Banal, whose idol is actor Robin Padilla, said he?ll be patient in waiting for his opportunity. He pointed to Juan Alberto Rosas as his toughest opponent so far although he insisted he was never hurt by the Mexican. Banal scored a unanimous decision over Rosas whose record was 25-2, with 22 KOs, before their fight in Las Vegas last May.
In another fight on the Dec. 2 card, Philippine bantamweight titlist Michael Domingo faces Tanzania ?s Anthony Mathias.
Domingo, 28, stopped Johnny Lear in Bohol last Saturday to improve his record to 33-14-2, with 13 KOs. He was a surprise winner in the Philippines versus Mexico World Cup in Sacramento last August, beating previously unbeaten Miguel Roman on points.
Mathias, a former PABA superflyweight champion, has won his last three fights, all by KO, and eight of his last nine wins were by KO. The African has an 18-7-1 record, with nine KOs, and five of his losses were in overseas bouts.
