AFTER calling it a career, Rey ?Boom-Boom? Bautista has rethought his decision of hanging it up and will return to the ring in 2014, less than a year after his retirement.
?It was Boom-Boom?s decision. I have talked to him and he said he wants to make a comeback at 130 pounds, which he feels is his confident weight. He had to suffer bringing down his weight at 126 pounds,? ALA Promotions president Michael Aldeguer told Sun.Star Cebu.
Bautista decided to end his career two months shy of his 27th birthday after a tough split decision loss to Mexican Jose Ramirez last April 20 in Davao City. Bautista was dropped once and was rocked a couple of times in that fight.
Despite Bautista?s earlier decision of ending his career, ALA Promotions and his ALA Gym family still support the Boholano banger?s decision all the way.
?We told him that ALA Promotions will always be here to support him. He is very focused about resuming his career and said that he is ready and he is more mature now mentally and emotionally,? said Aldeguer.
?We will support Rey?s plans for a comeback like any of our other fighters,? said ALA Gym head trainer Edito Villamor.
Bautista kept himself busy in his life outside the ring. He taught boxing to the Philippine Air Force cadets and also in the ALA Boxing Fitness Gym.
?Yes, he still has it. He is still 27 years old. He didn?t leave his jogging and he was with ALA Boxing Fitness in Minglanilla. By the time he returns to the gym for training he will be ready and will easily adjust,? said Villamor.
Bautista made a name for himself as one of the most promising and exciting Filipino fighters in the middle of the last decade. He was once regarded as the successor of Manny Pacquiao. After earning a world title shot following a unanimous decision win over erstwhile unbeaten Sergio Manuel Medina, it looked as if Bautista was on his way to stardom.
However, his career went in a different direction after he got knocked out in the first round by then World Boxing Organization (WBO) super bantamweight king Daniel Ponce de Leon in 2007.
