Thursday, January 25, 2007 Bautista faces Latino champ By Rommel C. Manlosa Sun.Star Staff Reporter
BOHOLANO boxing sensation Rey “Boom-Boom” Bautista will face a tougher foe when he returns to action in Cebu on Feb. 24 at the Cebu City Sports Center.
The card is promoted by Sammy Gello-ani and also features the WBO super flyweight championship between Fernando “Chucolito” Montiel and Z “The Dream” Gorres.
Gello-ani said during the press conference at the Laguna Garden Café yesterday that Bautista will fight a no-nonsense opponent—-Feider Luis Viloria Rodriguez of Columbia—the current WBC Latino super bantamweight champion.
The 23-year-old Rodriguez, who is from Arbolete, Antioquia, is an orthodox fighter with an 18-1-1 card packed with 12 KOs He is also rated as WBA No.12, WBC No.14 and WBO No.15.
Bautista, 20, undefeated in 21 fights with 16 KOs and Viloria will be fighting for two minor titles—the vacant WBO Intercontinental and the WBO youth super bantamweight titles.
Personal choice
“Rodriguez was personally picked by (international matchmaker) Sampson Lewkowicz and (Golden Boy Promotions) vice president Eric Gomez to fight Bautista because they believed this guy will give him (Bautista) the toughest fight. They picked Viloria among the five possible opponents because we told them we wanted the best opponent for Bautista,” said Gello-ani.
Gello-ani was joined by ALA Boys manager Michael Aldeguer, who said his fighters are preparing hard for the fight.
“Gorres is all psyched up to fight Montiel. He is very ready and very confident to win. Bautista, on the other hand, is also equally eager to bring his game in front of the people who had supported him during the early part of his career and yes, he is very excited about this fight,” said Aldeguer.
Aldeguer added that Bautista was a bit disappointed because he was preparing for a fight against WBO super bantamweight champion Daniel Ponce De Leon as main event in the postponed World Cup Boxing.
Heart
“Nevertheless he will be fighting his heart out and we believe Viloria will bring the best in him,” added Aldeguer.
In terms of punching powers, Viloria is not far behind from Bautista: the 5-foot-6 Columbian has a 67 percent KO rate, with 11 knockouts in the first four rounds. Bautista, on the other hand, has a 76 percent KO rate with 31 percent in the first two rounds.
Aside from the Bautista-Viloria 12-round event, Gello-ani also announced that youthful sensation AJ “Bazooka” Banal will be fighting for the WBO Youth super flyweight title, while Jimrex Jaca and Bert Batawang will possibly fight for minor titles.
