TAGUIG City – The protagonists of the ?Payback? boxing card get loud welcome when they were presented to the public in a special training day at the Market! Market! Plaza mall yesterday.
Rey ?Boom-Boom? Bautista, AJ ?Bazooka? Banal, Milan Melindo and Michael Domingo, together with their respective opponents Antonio ?Barrio? Meza, Jovany ?Bam-bino? Soto both from Mexico, Jack Amisa of Indonesia and Anthony Mathias of Tanzania, were seen doing shadow boxing and inviting the people to come and watch their fights on Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City.
?It?s a phenomenal reception. People went to come and watch the training and were very warm in greeting the boxers especially Boom-Boom himself,? said ALA Gym vice president for Promotion Dennis Ca?ete.
Optimism
With the training going fluidly and the boxers warming up with the mall crowd, Third Force president Noli Eala hopes their marketing efforts would pay off this Sunday.
?The ticket sales are going brisk as of this morning (Friday), we sold about 1,500 tickets on top of the already sold. It?s a good sign,? Eala said.
The promoters aim to fill in at least half of the 20,000-seater coliseum. ABC-5 will air the fight live.
?You watch our fight and I can guarantee you for a very great fight. This is the fight I have been waiting for and I will not make the same mistake again,? said Bautista in mixed Tagalog and Cebuano, referring to his first round knockout loss to Daniel Ponce De Leon last Aug. 11 in Sacramento, California, USA.
His team mates Banal and Domingo were also given a warm welcome and wishes of good luck by the mall crowd.
Weigh-in
Today, Bautista?s and the other fighters? hardboiled eggs and fruit diet will end after the weigh-in at 10 a.m. at the Gateway Mall in Araneta Center in Cubao.
?I don?t have any problem making my weight. I was one pound away from making the 122 lbs. There?s no problem,? Bautista told Sun.Star Cebu.
