Acid test for Bautista tonite

Gilberto (Chiqui) Bolanos flew all the way from Ciudad Obregon, Mexico, to face highly-touted World Boxing Organization Asia-Pacific bantamweight champion Rey (Boom Boom) Bautista in a scheduled 10-round bout at the Mandaue Sports Complex tonight and he’s determined to make a splash in his Philippine debut.

What makes Bolanos a dangerous proposition is his frightening knockout record. He has scored 10 stoppages in 10 wins and seven were inside three rounds. The 27-year-old slugger is a go-for-broke type of fighter–he’s forever on attack mode.

Bolanos, however, hasn’t won in six of his last seven bouts and dropped an eight-round decision to Filipino Nonito Donaire in his most recent outing seven months back. But his last win was sensational–he halted Armenian tough guy Karen Harutyunan, a Freddie Roach protégé, in the seventh round in Montebello, California.

Bautista and Bolanos were initially booked to fight in Las Vegas last April 8 but the match was scratched.

"Although the fight was already scheduled, I decided to pull out Bautista because I felt then that training under Freddie Roach at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood was top priority as it was the main reason why I brought him to the US," explained Bautista’s manager Tony Aldeguer.

The cancellation sparked a rumor that Aldeguer was wary of Bolanos’ knockout power and considered the test too much of a risk.

"I must caution the public not to take Bolanos lightly," said Aldeguer’s chief lieutenant Sammy Gello-ani. "He is not a hand-picked opponent destined to be slaughtered by Bautista."

Bolanos has everything to gain and nothing to lose against Bautista so the pressure is on the Filipino.

Bautista, 18, is surely not looking past Bolanos. His goal is to become the country’s next Manny Pacquiao and he’d like nothing better than to claim Bolanos’ scalp to avenge the two-time world titlist’s recent loss to another Mexican, Erik Morales.

The fight is aptly billed "El Gran Combate–A Time for Revenge."

Aldeguer has high hopes for Bautista, a native of Candijay, Bohol. He said the teenager will be ripe for a world title shot by next year.

"What I like about Boom Boom is his mental toughness," said Aldeguer. "He doesn’t get intimidated. When I took him to Melbourne to train for a week, he spoke freely with Australians. When I took him to Hawaii to fight Aree Phosuwan Gym, he didn’t mind the distractions and scored a fifth round knockout. When I took him to Los Angeles to train for three weeks, he didn’t take a step back in sparring with world champion Israel Vasquez and world-rated Julio Diaz. He has a variety of punches and can knock out an opponent with a right straight or a combination of an uppercut and hook or a cross. He’s the most exciting fighter in Cebu right now."

Bautista said he learned a lot from training in Roach’s gym, particularly defense, head movement, footwork and mixing his punches. Roach referred to him as the next Filipino world champion.

As a boy, Bautista often ran away from fights because the school bullies were much bigger. He was called a monkey by his classmates who teased him for being so poor, he only ate bananas and couldn’t afford to eat anything else. He learned how to box when he was 12 and realized he could go far as a fighter if he worked hard at it.

Bautista said after he hangs up his gloves, he’d like to study criminology and become a policeman like his uncle.

Bautista turned pro in June 2003 and has since compiled a record of 15-0, with 11 knockouts. Last year, he raised eyebrows after picking up successive wins over Hengky Wuwugan in Indonesia, Hu Jong Kim in South Korea and Hirokatsu Yamasaki in Japan.

With his ring earnings, Bautista bought a P65,000 motorcycle for his parents Alberto and Susana to use in going to church or the market in Tagbilaran. He pays for the education of his brothers and sisters three of whom are in elementary school. A brother Bert, 15, is an amateur fighter.