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Thursday, June 16, 2005
Bautista has new US agent
By Rommel C. Manlosa
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
The career of youthful WBO Asia-Pacific bantamweight champion Rey “Boom-Boom” Bautista just took another step forward as his camp made an arrangement for American boxing impresario Michael Koncz to act as his international agent.
Antonio Aldeguer, Bautista’s manager, told local scribes of the recent development during a thanksgiving dinner at the City Sports Club of Cebu restaurant Tuesday night.
“Michael came to us last February asking for our blessing to become Bautista’s business manager in the US. We rejected that. But after thorough evaluation of his personality and his efforts in helping us with Bautista’s recent fight against (Gilberto) Bolanos, it was us who asked him to be Bautista’s business manager,” Aldeguer said.
The 43-year-old American-Canadian from Orange County, California brought the involvement of the Las Vegas Conventions and Visitors Authority in endorsing the “El Gran Combate” card last Saturday.
“For now, we do have a definite fight date on Sept. 2 and it will be televised only in the States. This time we are also negotiating for an August date with Showtime Shobox promotions. My part (in Bautista’s career) is to look for fights, market him in the States and make him a super athlete of the Philippines,” Koncz said.
3 US fights
Included in the agreement is to have two or three fights for Bautista every time he goes to the US and to seek endorsement and sponsorship deals for the youthful world-title hopeful.
Koncz said that several names have already come out at this stage, including an undefeated fighter, to fight Bautista on Sept. 2 in Sacramento.
Koncz was supposed to leave the Philippines on June 20 but he had to leave for the US yesterday to concentrate on the two fights he is planning for Bautista.
And when Bautista finally gets his chances to fight for a world title, Koncz promised to do everything to bring the fight here in Cebu.
Last April, Aldeguer also made a deal with American trainer Freddie Roach to be the official trainer of the 18-year-old Candijay, Bohol native.
Roach agreed to train the promising Bautista after seeing the hard-hitting ALA Boy in a two-week training at his Wildcard Gym in Los Angeles.
(June 16, 2005 issue)
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