LOS ANGELES — Boom!
That was all it took for Rey Bautista to make a rousing US mainland debut — a whistling right straight that eventually took the sting out of Colombian Felix Flores in the third round of their scheduled eight-round bantamweight bout underneath the Erik Morales-Manny Pacquiao doubleheader.
Nicknamed “Boom Boom,” Bautista was declared winner at 1:13 as Flores tried to regain his balance despite looking like a marmoset who had been struck by a tranquilizer dart.
Bautista, who fights under the ALA Boxing Club of Cebu, climbed the ring apron seconds after the victory and shouted to the gathering crowd “boom, boom.”
Bautista, 19, controlled the first two rounds and heard instructions from Freddie Roach in his corner. Edito Villamor assisted in the corner work. Roach, who went on to work the corners of most of the fighters in the card, wore a black shirt with the ALA Boxing Club logo printed on the back.
The victory boosted Bautista’s win-loss card to 15-0 with 12 knockouts and his smashing performance should open up more opportunities for the Bohol-born, Cebu-bred banger, who trained at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood beginning early August.
In his one-month stint at Wild Card on Vine St. near Santa Monica, Bautista underwent a strenuous workout under the watchful eyes of Roach and Australian conditioning coach Justin Fortune.
