Teener Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista of the Philippines aims to continue his winning run in the Unites States today as he faces Mexican toughie Gerardo Espinoza at the Sycuan Resort and Casino in El Cajon, California.
The 18-year-old Bautista is on his third fight in the United States and will be facing his 10th straight foreign foe of his two-year professional career.
Bautista has already compiled an imposing record of 18-0, 14 by knockouts.
Bautista, the current World Boxing Organization (WBO) Asia Pacific bantamweight ruler, stopped Thai Aree Phosuwongym in the 5th round last March 11 at the Blasidell Arena in Hawaii.
He then pulverized Colombian Felix Flores Murillo in three rounds last September 10 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.
His fight against Murillo served as one of the undercards of the classic Erik Morales-Manny Pacquiao 12-round battle.
Bautista is the top contender of the WBO and 10th in the prestigious World Boxing Council (WBC) bantamweight class.
Bautista has been training at the Wild Card Gym early this month under famed trainer Freddie Roach who will also work in the corner of the teenage sensation for this particular fight.
Roach, who regards Bautista as his own version of a Baby-faced Assassin, believes that the Boholano phenom is a potential world title challenger in about a year.
Bautista’s well-regarded manager Tony Aldeguer disclosed that the Espinoza fight will help them determine clearly their boxer’s toughness and readiness to step up to the challenge of facing highly-rated fighters starting next year.
The 25-year-old Espinoza is an eight-year veteran with a scary record of 28-9 win-loss record with 26 knockouts.
Most of Espinoza’s losses came from world-ranked fighters as well as against former champions like Mauricio Martinez, Francisco Tejedor, Cruz Carbajal and current bantamweight king Rafael Marquez.
In yesterday’s official weigh-in, Bautista tipped the scales at 118-lbs. while Espinoza was heavier at 120-lbs.
Meanwhile, Aldeguer plans to pit Bautista against a top ten opponent should he dispose of Espinoza in convincing fashion.
Offers are aplenty for Bautista to appear in an expected blockbuster card in the country early next year.
Bautista’s last fight was on November 19 at the Carlos P. Garcia Sports Complex in Tagbilaran City, Bohol where he demolished Tanzanian Obote Ameme inside two rounds infront of an estimated 25,000 crowd.
