Boom brings Pride to Bohol

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

IT will be a huge homecoming party for Rey “Boom-Boom” Bautista as he headlines the latest edition of the popular “Pinoy Pride” in his hometown, Bohol.

“‘Pinoy Pride 12’ will be on March 3 in Bohol featuring ‘Boom-Boom’. We plan to make it the biggest ever sporting event in Bohol, as the last time ‘Boom-Boom’ fought there was in 2005. We are looking forward to 50,000 spectators, breaking the record of 30,000 fans the last time featuring (AJ) Banal. We believe this will be bigger because of the popularity of Pinoy Pride now and ‘Boom-Boom,’ who is a true-blooded Boholano,” ALA Promotions president Michael Aldeguer told Sun.Star Cebu yesterday.

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Bautista, a native of Candijay, last fought in Bohol over six years ago, where he stopped Tanzanian Obote Ameme in the second round at the Carlos P. Garcia Sports Complex in Tagbilaran City.

The frontrunner for the venue would still be the Carlos P. Garcia Sports Complex, wherein Banal, who traces his roots from Bohol, drew a hefty crowd in his title fight with Big Yoo in 2010.

“We still have to confirm the venue, but definitely it will be in Bohol. The undercards have not yet been finalized yet,” said Aldeguer.

Bautista is currently No. 5 in the International Boxing Federation (IBF) featherweight ratings behind Mexican Eduardo Escobedo and Cuban Luis Franco, while the top two spots are currently vacant. The current IBF featherweight titleholder is Billy Dib.

Bautista, who is off a sixth-round technical knockout over Miguel Angel Mendoza, is trying to work his way up the rankings for a possible world title shot soon.

“It will be a non-title fight but we hope to get a named Latin fighter to test ‘Boom-Boom’. This will also be the first time for a Latin fighter to fight in Bohol.”