'Boom Boom' eyes Pacquiao-de la Hoya undercard
abs-cbnNEWS.com | 08/31/2008 7:00 PM
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World Boxing Organization intercontinental super bantamweight champ Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista may see action on the undercard of one of the biggest fights in the history of boxing between Filipino ring idol Manny Pacquiao and “The Golden Boy” Oscar De La Hoya at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on December 6.
However, nothing is definite yet about the schedule though the 22-year-old Bautista said in a post-fight interview Saturday in Cebu that he hopes to fight on the Pacquiao-de la Hoya undercard. Saturday's main event saw Bautista demolishing Mexican challenger Eden “Anestesista” Marquez in the second round.
It was learned that following his impressive performance Saturday, Bautista, who's also with Golden Boy Promotions, is now being considered for the December 6 main event. AJ "Bazooka" Banal was the original choice to fight in the Pacquiao-de la Hoya feature bout.
Bautista, who suffered his only loss in a devastating first round knockout to Daniel Ponce De Leon in the Philippines-Mexico World Cup on Aug. 11, 2007 in Sacramento, has since regained his confidence and redeemed his following among fight fans with his third straight victory since then.
Bautista’s showing against the tough Marquez (16-3-3, 12 KOs) proved the Ponce de Leon setback was clearly behind him.
Aside from Bautista, Filipino Donnie "Ahas" Nietes scored a classic second round knockout against Eddy “Torito II” Castro of Nicaragua in their WBO minimum weight fight.
Nietes decked the smaller Castro with a wicked right straight followed by a hard body shot and then sent him crashing to the canvas with a vicious right straight at 2:49 seconds of the second round.
The finish forced Games and Amusements Board head Dr. Nasser Cruz to jump into the ring to check on Castro who was later taken to his corner and examined before being allowed to leave.
It was Nietes’ first defense of the title he won on Sept. 30, 2007 with a unanimous twelve round decision over Thailand’s Pornsawan Kratringdaenggym The comparatively long layoff didn’t show and Nietes looked sharp and confident in demolishing Castro, the WBO world No. 9.
Nietes moved to 23-1-3 with 14 knockouts while Castro fell to 12-4-1 with 9 knockouts. Nietes was heavily favored to beat the Nicaraguan challenger who had lost a six round points decision to Roberto Meza in his last fight on February 29 but the manner in which he did it was truly impressive.
