Rey “Boom-Boom” Bautista creamed many of his sparring partners as he intensifies his training for a Dec. 23 ring date with Gerardo “Locomotora” Espinoza at the Sycuan Resort and Casino in El Cajon, California.
Although most of his sparring partners were champions and veteran sluggers, it was a different battle where the 19-year-old Boholano had some difficulty – homesickness.
His trainer, Edito Villamor, who is with Bautista in the US, said the ALA Gym prot?g? is adjusting quickly and has remained focused on his training.
Another obstacle Bautista has to hurdle, Villamor said, is the winter chill.
Optimistic
“(The) weather here is very cold. We are having difficulty adjusting,” said Villamor in an e-mail. “But Rey is training hard. He is now down to 121 pounds and we expect a very tough fight on Dec. 23.”
Villamor said he is optimistic of Bautista’s chances against Espinoza, who holds a 28-9 win-loss record with 26 KOs.
Bautista and Villamor arrived in Los Angeles last Dec. 4 and then proceeded to Bautista’s business manager Michael Koncz’s residence in Orange County.
Bautista started training the following day, starting with a one-hour jog in the morning and training and sparring at the Wild Card Gym in the afternoon.
It was not an easy first day for Bautista.
He sparred with the WBO-Nabo super-flyweight champion Karem Harutyunyan for four rounds while battling jetlag. He capped off the day with another four-round session with Harutyunyan.
From Freddie Roach’s Gym, Bautista’s team shifted training at the 2000 Gym in Orange County, where he sparred with the California lightweight champion Edgar Favian Vargas for four rounds.
Bautista had already recovered from jetlag as he impressed his manager after the tune-up with Vargas, who outweighed Bautista by 10 pounds and was three inches shorter.
In another sparring bout last Dec. 9, Bautista forced super bantamweight Isael Nacarrete to stop in the third round of a scheduled four-round session at the 2000 Gym.
Toughest
Bautista’s toughest sparring session was at the Pound-for-Pound Gym, where Bautista boxed with Artyom Simonyan, who had fought Israel Vasquez for the IBF super-bantamweight title.
The two exchanged a flurry of punches before the fight was stopped after only two rounds.
Last Monday, the Candijay, Bohol puncher went back to the Wildcard Gym and trained under Roach, who had just arrived from Germany.
The WBO Asia-Pacific bantamweight champion was a little sluggish as he sparred with Mexican brothers Enrique and Daniel Cuevedo for three rounds each.
After a light training regimen with the punch bag and speedball, Bautista met the Cuevedo brothers again and was in better condition as he exchanged punches with the Mexican fighters for eight rounds with WBC/IBF junior featherweight champion Israel Vasquez at the sideline. (
