CEBU CITY ,Philippines ? Rey ?Boom Boom? Bautista puts his future on the line when he faces Heriberto Ruiz of Mexico tonight at the Waterfront Hotel here.
Once dubbed as the next Manny Pacquiao, the 24-year-old pride of Bohol admitted after yesterday?s official weigh-in that this fight means a lot to him.
It could mean everything to him.
?This is important for me,? said Bautista after tipping the scales at 125 1/2 pounds for his IBF International featherweight bout against his 33-year-old opponent.
Bautista said he trained hard for this fight because a victory would not only avenge his bitter 2008 loss to Ruiz but rekindle his hopes of becoming a world champion.
He won his first 23 fights as a pro and earned a crack at the WBO super-bantamweight crown as a 20-year-old against Mexico?s Daniel Ponce de Leon.
But that fight ended in a disaster, with Bautista being knocked out in the first round. He came back with three successive wins on local soil before losing to Ruiz in Las Vegas.
That loss left some serious doubts about his future, and after winning his next four fights, three of them in Cebu and one in Dubai, here comes another chance.
Bautista is so young to be thinking of a last chance, but he knows the reality in this sport.
?Baka wala na. Mahirap na makabalik (This could be it. It would be very hard to come back),? he said when asked what holds in case he takes another setback.
?But what?s on my mind right now is to win this fight. I?m ready for this fight. I have put those setbacks behind. That?s boxing,? said Bautista.
?We will see tomorrow,? said Bautista?s manager, Michael Aldeguer of ALA Promotions. ?He knows it… if he doesn?t make it here.?
Aldeguer said Bautista stands a better chance against Ruiz this time because the first time they met, the Filipino was hurting even before he climbed the ring.
?Two weeks before that fight he stopped sparring because of pain on his left wrist. And five days before the fight it was still hurting,? said Aldeguer.
It was discovered a week after the fight that Bautista had a fractured scaphoid, and he was operated on by Dr. Tammy de los Reyes of the Asian Hospital in Muntinlupa.
?It was like he had a rotten bone the size of a tiny strip of chicken bone, and the doctor grafted a bone from his hip as a replacement,? said Aldeguer.
Now, Bautista (30-2 with 23 knockouts) doesn?t feel any pain on his left wrist.
But Ruiz is here to spoil everything.
?That?s why I?m here. I?m here to win. I?m ready,? said Ruiz (46-10-2 with 28 knockouts), who weighed in at 126 pounds, and said he?d climb the ring tonight at around 138 pounds.
Ruiz trained longer for this fight because he said when the call came about two months ago, he was already in training.
?I was always training,? he said, adding that he sees the same result against Bautista.
?He?s still the same. He still has the same style. He hasn?t changed much,? said Ruiz.
Bautista can?t wait to prove him wrong.
