Thursday, January 10, 2008 Banal, Bautista in Peñalosa undercard
THE young boxing sensation AJ “Bazooka” Banal will be fighting in the undercard of the upcoming Gerry “Fearless” Peñalosa World Boxing Organization bantamweight title defense against Ratanachai Sor Vorapin on March 2 at the Araneta Coliseum alongside fellow ALA boxer Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista.
Banal, who is tipped by no less than Freddie Roach to be the country’s biggest hope for another world title, was originally scheduled to fight in the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez rematch.
“AJ and Boom Boom will be fighting on March 2. AJ was supposed to fight in the Pacquiao event but was moved to an earlier date by GBP,” said Michael Aldeguer of ALA gym in an interview by Sun.Star.
Banal hasn’t signed any formal papers but Aldeguer already had a verbal agreement with Eric Gomez of GBP. This is the first time GBP has promoted a big event in the Philippines.
The scheduled Feb. 22 Charter Day boxing event, which will feature Banal , will most likely be postponed because of the March 2 fight.
Although Banal and Bautista’s opponent are yet to be known, they will surely be seeing action on the Penalosa-Vorapin WBO bantamweight title bout as undercards.
“It is up to GBP which boxer they want to fight Banal and Boom Boom,” Aldeguer told Sun.Star Cebu. (EKA)
