Undefeated ALA Boys Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista and AJ “Bazooka” Banal arrived in Los Angeles Monday primed and ready to continue their training for their respective assignments on May 5 on the undercard of the Oscar de la Hoya- Floyd Mayweather Jr super-bout at the MGM Resort Casino in Las Vegas.
The two fighters were accompanied by this year’s Elorde Awardee as “Trainer of the Year”, Edito “ALA” Villamor, who will supervise their training for one week at the Wild Card Gym along with Freddie Roach assistant Justin Fortune.
After one week, the trio will fly to Puerto Rico where Roach himself will supervise their final training at the Wilfredo Gomez Gym where he is currently training Oscar de la Hoya.
Also slated to fly with the group is WBC interim welterweight champ Sugar Shane Mosley, who will serve as De la Hoya’s chief sparmate.
Renowned LA-based orthodontist Ed De la Vega, who was the only mediaman who met the group at the airport, cited the ALA group’s efforts in securing Banal’s American travel documents.
“Perhaps the people managing Jorge Solis and some people at Top Rank should take some lessons from the ALA management. Indeed, they may learn a thing or two in so far as securing visas for their fighters is concerned,” De la Vega said, referring to Solis’ failure to attend press conferences in California due to his visa problems in Guadalajara.
“Banal, who is traveling to the US for the first time can not conceal his joy about being in the USA. Sometime this week, he too will be a proud owner of a custom mouth guard courtesy of this writer. Then when he gets back to Cebu, he too can show off his mouth guard, one of the fringe benefits of Pinoy boxers who set foot in Los Angeles,” added De la Vega in his report at Philboxing.com.
“He will be ready come May 5th.”, Villamor said of Banal. ” He is here to win and make the most of his first fight in the USA.”
The group was fetched at the airport by a chaffeur-driven limousine courtesy of Oscar De la Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions, as is the case in their previous US stints.
