AFTER a busy and disappointing 2008, ALA Promotions will be taking it slowly this year and will not be vying for world title fights.
Following a discussion among the group, ALA Promotions decided it will hone its young fighters some more before they compete for a world title.
?We are not looking for any world championship fights this year,? ALA Promotions president Michael Aldeguer said in a press conference yesterday. ?It was a difficult year last year. We have realized that there is a right timing. We will not hurry them. There is no substitute for maturity.?
Aldeguer said that it will take time before two of his young promising fighters, Rey ?Boom-Boom? Bautista and AJ ?Bazooka? Banal, will be challenging for world titles because he thinks that both talented pugilists still lack the experience.
?We?ll be giving Banal and Boom-Boom championship fights two or three years from now when they already mature,? said Aldeguer. ?Boom-Boom will go back to the drawing board, while Banal, who is one of the most talented the gym has ever had, needs to mature mentally.?
The Dream
However, if ALA Promotions is given an offer for a world title fight, the only ALA fighter who could figure in one is Z ?The Dream? Gorres, who they think is mature enough.
Last year, Gorres lost by split decision to Vic Darchinyan, while Banal got TKOed by Rafael Concepcion.
Although Gorres hasn?t had an offer for a world title shot, he will be kept busy with an upcoming fight on Feb. 28 at the Waterfront Hotel and Casino along with Milan ?Milenyo? Melindo.
ALA Promotions is looking to pit Gorres with Mexican world title contender Cecilio Santos, and Milendo with former International Boxing Federation minimumweight king Muhammad Rachman.
World Boxing Organization mini flyweight titleholder Donnie ?Ahas? Nietes, the only world champion of the ALA Gym at present, is set to defend his title against Mexican combatant Erik Ramirez in Oaxaca, Mexico on Feb. 28.
Hostile territory
Aldeguer believes that this fight in hostile territory will help Nietes? career to flourish in the international boxing scene, where he is not as famous as his fellow ALA Boys Banal, Gorres and Bautista.
?This is a career move for Donnie for him to be respected and recognized. It?s a risk fighting a Mexican in Mexico but we have to do it and Donnie wants it,? said Aldeguer.
Meanwhile, young fighters will have a chance to showcase their skills and gain experience as ALA Promotions continue its tie-up with Summit Natural Drinking Water in their monthly boxing series Summit Fight Night Boxing Tour.
There are already two episodes lined up for the first two months of 2009.
On Jan. 18, the series will have a Sinulog fight card at the Gaisano Country Mall Carpark featuring Yukka Gejon, while young boxing phenom Jason Pagara will headline the second boxing event on Feb. 21 in Cagayan De Oro City.
