World Boxing Organization Asia-Pacific bantamweight champion Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista kept his promise to avenge the bitter loss of Manny Pacquiao to legendary Mexican Erik “El Terrible” Morales last March 19 by scoring an impressive sixth-round TKO victory over Mexican hitman Gilberto Bolanos before a wildly cheering crowd at the Mandaue City Sports Complex Saturday night.
The undefeated Bautista, ranked no. 3 by the WBO, dropped Bolanos in the third round with a vicious uppercut and a glancing right to the side of the head and had the Mexican in trouble on several occasions with solid body shots.
Bolanos stood toe to toe with Bautista during several furious exchanges and lived up to his reputation as a fighter with 10 knockouts in 10 wins, and proved to be a worthy opponent for the 18-year-old Filipino, who is considered a champion of the future. Bautista staggered Bolanos in the fourth round and opened up a cut below his left eye with a wicked right. He continued to pound the Mexican, who sat on his stool and failed to come out for the sixth round on the advice of his trainer Roberto Bandanegro.
With the win, Bautista improved to 16-0 with 12 knockouts while Bolanos dropped to 10-9-1 with 10 KOs.
Both fighters sized each other up in the opening round before Bautista turned on the heat in the second round and kept the pressure on Bolanos until the abbreviated ending. Boxing analyst Moy Lainez, who was at special ringside with Rod Nazario, Lito Mondejar and Gerry Garcia of the original Team Pacquiao, said it was a “good fight and a quality bout.”
A large number of foreigners, who planed in from Hong Kong, Australia and Japan to watch the charismatic and popular Bautista in perhaps the biggest test of his young career against the first Mexican to fight in Cebu, gave the Filipino as well as his opponent a standing ovation when it was over. The fight card titled “El Gran Combate — A Time For Revenge” drew the biggest crowd in years.
