DAVAO CITY?Fans may have seen the last of Rey ?Boom-Boom? Bautista as ALA founder Antonio L. Aldeguer urged him to hang up his gloves following a punishing defeat last Saturday night.
?We may have seen the last of ?Boom-Boom? Bautista. Why should he be punished more?
There?s no point. Even if he had won the fight I would still tell him to retire,? Antonio said after witnessing one of his prized boxers fall at the hands of Mexican Jose Ramirez at the well-attended Pinoy Pride XIX ? ?Mexican Invasion? at the University of Southeastern Philippines.
Ramirez (25-3, 17 KOs) outhustled Bautista (34-3, 25 KOs) and walked away with a split decision for the World Boxing Organization (WBO) international featherweight title.
Judges Salven Lagumbay and Danrex Tapdasan both scored it 114-111 for Ramirez, while judge Edward Ligas had Bautista winning, 114-111, in his scorecard.
Bautista was on his way to a possible title eliminator or maybe even a world title shot. Now, those plans are gone.
?I?ve always said that the answer would be on Saturday if he is ready for a world title. We have no excuses, there is no reason, and he has no injuries now. He tried his best and it wasn?t good enough,? said ALA Promotions president Michael Aldeguer.
Bautista started slow and was on defense mode, while Ramirez was aggressive and dictated the pace of the fight in the opening round. The 25-year-old Sinaloa native landed a bone-crushing left hook that knocked Bautista down.
Bautista survived but he was in trouble a couple of times in the succeeding rounds as Ramirez was more accurate in the exchanges.
The 26-year-old Boholano had his best performance in the eighth round as he nearly ended the fight after landing a flurry of heavy blows on Ramirez?s head, which had the fans cheer loudly up on their feet.
?In the eighth round I felt hurt, I felt like giving up. When I got to my corner I was disoriented and weak,? admitted Ramirez.
Ramirez recovered from Bautista?s onslaught and continued where he left off. In the 10th, Ramirez was deducted a point after landing an elbow on Bautista?s left cheek, which resulted in a huge gash.
A bloodied Bautista was spent in the last few rounds and was content on just defending and clinching rather than finishing the fight in spectacular fashion.
?I can?t comment on that (his retirement). I respect him a lot. He?s really a very good fighter,? said Ramirez.
Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) flyweight king Rocky Fuentes (35-6-2, 20 KOs) won a wild but lopsided unanimous decision over World Boxing Council Youth super flyweight champion Juan Kantun (20-4-3, 15 KOs) in the co-main event.
It was an all-out brawl from start to finish. Fuentes quickly dropped Kantun in the opening round with a stiff left jab. The 27-year-old Cebuano sent Kantun to the canvas again with an overhand right to the head.
Kantun caught Fuentes and sent him to the floor in the fourth. But Fuentes retaliated and knocked down Kantun with a vicious overhand right.
All three judges scored it 98-88 for Fuentes.
Arthur Villanueva (21-0, 11 KOs) defended his OPBF super flyweight belt clinical unanimous decision victory over fellow up-and-comer Marco Demecillo ?Singwancha? (18-1-1, 14 KOs). The scores were 118-109, 119-108 and 119-108.
Last minute replacement Mark Vincent Bernaldez (10-0, 6 KOs) stepped up to the plate and demolished Indonesian Arief Balder (17-10-1, 6 KOs) in just two rounds.
