Friday, August 29, 2008 Bautista, Marquez vow to KO each other By Edri K. Aznar Sun.Star Staff Reporter
EVEN if it wasn’t yet the fight night, both pugilists World Boxing Organization Intercontinental super bantamweight titleholder Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista and Mexican challenger Eden “Anastesista” Marquez showed their eagerness to trade fists as they stood face-to-face and exchanged heated words at the final press conference, yesterday, at the Waterfront Hotel and Casino.
“I came all the way from Mexico to beat Boom Boom,” said Marquez in Mexican which was translated by his manager Fernando Dominguez.
Tired of all the talk that Marquez has said since he first stepped foot in Cebu City, the 22-year old Bautista stood up and looked Marquez in the eye with a fiery look saying, “You do it inside the ring maybe you’ll just eat your words. This isn’t a talk show; you do the talking inside the ring.”
Not intimidated by “Boom Boom”, Marquez retaliated and boasted his heritage as a Mexican, known to be brave people who never back down from a fight.
“I’m 100 percent Mexican. I came here to fight,” Marquez told the WBO regional champion.
But Bautista doesn’t care if he is a Mexican or not because he believes that he has the edge because of the hometown advantage.
“I don’t care if you’re a Mexican. You’re in my turf,” said the ALA boy.
Both boxers promised this bout to be exciting and vowed that the winner will win via a knockout.
“I’m not going to look for a KO right away, but I’m surely going to knock him out,” said the challenger confidently.
“I’m ready to fight for 12 rounds. I can knock him out at any round,” said Bautista.
Trained hard
On the other hand, WBO mini flyweight champion Donnie “Ahas” Nietes is certain that the Nicaraguan challenger Eddy “Torito II” Castro will never take his crown away from him.
“Don’t ever think that you’ll take away the belt from me because I’ve trained hard for this fight. This belt belongs to me,” Neites told Castro.
“You can keep the title, that’s no problem, but I’m going to be the champion,” replied the WBO no.9 rated fighter.
If Bautista and Nietes will get past their foreign foes, there will be a possibility that Golden Boy Promotions will schedule Bautista as an undercard for the Dec. 6 blockbuster battle between Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao and “Golden Boy” Oscar De La Hoya, while Nietes will be in mandatory defense against WBO no.1 contender Daniel Reyes.
Other fights slated at the “Night of Champions” fight card at the Waterfront Hotel and Casino tomorrow are the up-and-rising young fighter Jason Pagara against Thai Kongdej Sithtrajtrakan; Jomanz Omanz against Roger Galica; Weng Haya opposite Ricky Sismundo; Rey Las Piñas against Gideon Amba; Jerson Mancio against Mario Suson; and JV “The Fighting Doc” Tuazon against Albert Villacampa.
