Boom-boom to be Bazooka undercard

ON HIS road to redemption, Rey “Boom-Boom” Bautista is up for another stiff test as he takes on Mexican Daniel Ruiz for the vacant World Boxing Organization (WBO) International featherweight crown in October.

“Yes. That is the plan. We are waiting for the signed contract,” ALA Promotions president Michael Aldeguer disclosed to Sun.Star Cebu.

The Bautista vs. Ruiz bout will serve as a supporting main event for the world title clash between AJ “Bazooka” Banal and Thai Pungluang Sor Singyu for the vacant WBO bantamweight belt on Oct. 20 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.

“We have not seen him fight yet, but we heard that he is a typical Mexican that comes to fight,” said the young Cebuano promoter. “It should be an interesting fight for Boom-Boom.”

Ruiz is a five-year veteran with a 27-5-1 record, including 19 knockouts. He is the current World Boxing Council Latino super featherweight champion and has fought for the International Boxing Organization (IBO) super featherweight title. Ruiz lost only twice this year and in 2011, wherein both fights were close.

Loss

Ruiz lost his latest fight against unbeaten IBO super featherweight titleholder Will Tomlinson by a technical decision, when the fight went to the scorecards after the seventh round due to a power failure in the venue.

The other loss was against undefeated Canadian Logan McGuinness, in which he dropped a close majority decision.

Bautista is currently rated 10th in the WBO and his status in the division will improve if he captures the vacant crown. ALA Promotions has been building up Bautista in the organization because of a possible fight with WBO featherweight king Orlando Salido in the future.

Bautista’s performance in his next few fights will determine if he is indeed ready to step up a notch and fight for a world title.

“It depends on how he performs in every fight. I can’t say if he is ready next year,” said Aldeguer.