Friday, November 21, 2008 Bautista confident in comeback fight
FOR quite sometime, ALA boxing stable star Rey “Boom-Boom” Bautisa’s confidence crashed following his first professional career loss to Daniel Ponce De Leon in just first round.
However, after sealing three straight victories against Mexican’s Antonio Meza (24-5-1, 16 KO’s), Genaro Camargo (21-4, 14 KO’s) and Eden Marquez (16-5-3, 12 KO’s), Bautista (26-1, 19 KO’s) thinks that his self-confidence has skyrocketed to where it once was.
“My confidence is back. I am feeling strong and my confidence has returned,” Bautista told Fightfan.com.
Bautista suffered his first loss last year after he was knocked out by erstwhile champion De Leon (35-2, 31 KOs) in their championship battle at the Arco Arena in California.
This Sunday (RP time), Bautista will be having his comeback fight in the US against tough Mexican veteran warrior Heriberto “Cuate” Ruiz (39-7-2, 23 KOs) in the undercard of the Hatton-Malignaggi clash at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Going into this rough 10-round war, the 22-year-old Bautista feels that his defense, which most experts say he lacks, has been improving and he has a lot more experience now than when he fought against De Leon.
“I’ve learned a lot. I have worked a lot on my defense. You know, sometimes you lose. Life is like that. You lose but you learn. I got in to boxing at a very young age and moved along very quickly but I feel I am a bit older now,” said the World Boxing Organization Inter-continental super bantamweight titleholder.
“I have really been working on my defense. Also on my balance. I want to be patient with my opponent. Not feeling the need to rush but taking my time to set things up,” he added.
Bautista—ranked No.1 in the WBO, No.7 in the International Boxing Federation, No.11 in the World Boxing Council and No.7 in the World Boxing Association—expressed his interest to be in bigger fights next year. (EKA)
