Roach foresees bright Future for Rey Bautista

Celebrated American trainer Freddie Roach is so impressed with the fighting skills of Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista that he foresees a very bright future for the undefeated Boholano boxing phenomenon.

"Boom Boom has that killer instint, and he's young, we don't want to rush that kid. Rey just needs to calm down a little bit, he's a little anxious, but he's so young, and that comes with the territory when you're just 19. Rey is growing every fight, and he has a great future ahead of him," said Roach in an exclusive interview with Brad Conney of boxingtalk.com.

Bautista, a native of Candijay, Bohol who has recently been named as "Adopted Son of Tagbilaran City", is coming off his fourth straight win on US soil -a brutal third round stoppage of Nicaraguan Roberto "El Chucky" Bonilla last May 20 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

In a three-year pro career, Bautista has fought several times abroad against fighters of diverse nationalities that include Mexican, Thai, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Colombian, Nicaraguan, and South African.

Bautista won the WBO Asia Pacific bantamweight championship by knocking out Thai Saensak Singmanassak in the second round on August 17, 2004 at the Mandaue City Cultural and Sports Complex. He defended his crown twice against African challengers Vuyisile Bebe of South Africa and Obote Ameme of Tanzania.

Bautista's most defining moment so far was when he was knocked down for the first time in his career by Mexican Gerardo Espinoza during his third US bout on Christmas eve last year at the Sycuan Resort and Casino in El, Cajon, California.

Showing iron will and nerves of steel, Bautista recovered from that second round scare on the way to beat Espinoza by a very close unanimous decision.

When asked if Bautista can be the next Manny Pacquiao, Roach replied "Rey has that smile, and he wants to hurt you with every punch, he's a killer. Outside of the ring, he's a sweet kid. When he's in my gym here in America, he always tells me that he misses his home, and he misses his mother. He's such a nice kid, a real sweetheart to be around."

Bautista, unscated in 20 fights with 15 wins by knockouts, is fixing his sights next on a showdown with Mexican Alejandro Felix Montiel in the undercard of Manny Pacquiao-Oscar Larios war on July 2 at the Araneta Coliseum.