PASIG City—The tension between Boholano sensation Rey “Boom-Boom” Bautista and Mexican challenger Antonio Barrio Meza could equal the tension in the nation’s business capital, Makati City, yesterday.
Bautista and Meza, main protagonists of the Third Force Promotion Payback Resbak Para sa Kababayan on Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum, talked tough in their first official meeting yesterday in the press conference held at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) here.
Speaking through his manager Fernando Dominguez, Meza said he trained for two months under the watchful eyes of former IBF miniflyweight champion Edgar Cardenas at the gym of Erik Morales at the Otomi Mountains in Mexico City to ensure his victory over the Filipino WBO Inter Continental super bantamweight champion.
The two also said losing is no longer an option.
“I will never lose. Losing is not an option. I have learned my lessons well and I can guarantee a new Boom-Boom Bautista on Sunday,” said Bautista.
“I regard, any fight as my last. And I am hungry (to win). I was hurt, badly hurt—both emotionally and physically—in my last fight, that is why I have to win this fight,” he added.
No game plan
On the other hand, Meza said, “It’s going to be a very long way up if I lose. That means, I have to start all over from the bottom. Bautista is my ticket to big time fights, that is why I need to win.”
Even if he had seen most of the fights of Bautista through US television, Meza, however, has no game plan on how to stop Bautista.
“As of now I don’t have any game plan. I’ll just do it on top of the ring,” the 25-year old fighter from Mexicali, Baja California said.
Meza is also a complete mystery for Bautista.
“This fight is a mystery fight for Boom-Boom while Meza already knows how to fight him,” said ALA Boys manager Michael Aldeguer. “But this (fight) is what he had been waiting for so long.”
Meanwhile, Third Force president Noli Eala had promised a glitzy event,
“(Because) we wanted to show that the Philippines can be a destination for big time boxing,” Eala said. (RCM)
