Bautista fight vs. Montiel in Pacquiao card might be called off

The key players of the "Mano-A-Mano Philippines vs. Mexico" card face a grim prospect of losing one of the country's promising stars to watch in the undercard of the blockbuster promotion after ALA Boxing Gym sensation Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista was admitted to the Cebu Doctors' Hospital due to high fever and heavy coughing late Sunday night.

Bautista is set to face ex-IBA flyweight champion Alejandro Felix Montiel in the undercard of Manny Pacquiao's WBC International super featherweight title defense against Oscar Larios on July 2 at the Araneta Coliseum, but the match is danger of being cancelled due to the Candijay, Bohol fighter's predicament.

"He (Bautista) suffers sinusitis and has upper respiratory tract infection indicating that he has a fever. Right now, he's under medical treatment," said one of CDH's resident physicians attending Bautista.

Bautista said he felt symptoms of fever last week, but it was only late Sunday night when he suffered severe headache and sudden rise of his body temperature that he was rushed to CDH to undergo a battery of tests. Interestingly, eight of the 10 ALA boxers are downed by fever.

"He had a very high fever and heavy coughing. He had a relapse so we have to bring him to the hospital," said revered boxing patron Antonio "Bidoy" L. Aldeguer, Bautista's manager.

Aldeguer said he is saddened by what happened because it has really been his dream for Bautista to show his stuff in Manila in the undercard of a Pacquiao fight.

"I'm so depressed because this has been my dream for Boom Boom to fight in Metro Manila in Pacquiao undercard," said Aldeguer.

Aldeguer, however, did not confirm whether Bautista is totally out of the July 2 card saying that they will just depend on the doctors' findings and recommendations.

"He's okay. There's nothing serious about him. His fever has already subsided, but I can't make any confirmation as of the moment if he can fight or not in Pacquiao card," said Aldeguer.

"Our main concern is his physical condition and it appears he's not physically fit. We must consult first the doctor, the trainer, and the boxer himself before making any decision," added Aldeguer.

Also, Aldeguer is set to meet with Golden Boy Promotions vice president Eric Gomez this Wednesday to discuss on what is going to be their next move.

"With due respect to Golden Boys Promotions because they're the ones who made this fight, we have to wait for arrival of Mr. Eric Gomez so we can discuss what our next move is going to be," said Aldeguer.

Gomez is the vice president of the Oscar de la Hoya-owned Golden Boy Promotions, Bautista's US-based promotional outfit.

Lying on his hospital bed, Bautista was very apologetic to his fans and to the promoters as well saying that he's just "human" and that what happened was beyond his control.

"I want to say sorry to all my fans. If my health permits, I would have wanted to fight because I trained and prepared hard for this because this has been the opportunity I've been waiting for. It's just I caught fever and I can't do anything about it. I'm just human and I hope they understand my situation," said a remorseful Bautista.

For ALA Boxing Gym chief trainer Edito Villamor, it will be a big loss for Team ALA if Bautista's can't fight in the undercard of the hotly-anticipated Pacquiao-Larios showdown.

"It's going to be a big loss for Team ALA because it's a very big event next to the Thrilla in Manila (also hosted by the Araneta Coliseum in 1975 featuring Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier). But it would be unwise for us if we will make a gamble. Anyway, there's still a lot of boxing promotions in the future," said Villamor.

Meanwhile, RP jr lightweight champion Jimrex Jaca will battle a new opponent in the Pacquiao-Larios undercard after his original opponent Adrian Valdez reportedly fractured his hand during training the other day.

After learning of the incident, Pacquiao's close associate Rex "Wakee" Salud immediately hired veteran Hector Marquez as Valdez's replacement. Marquez holds a 28-16 win-loss record with 21KOs and has fought - albeit for a losing cause - against top caliber opponents in the likes of Juan Manuel Marquez, Humberto Soto and Guty Espadas.

Valdez is the fourth boxer to pull out of the multi-million card bankrolled by television giant ABS-CBN.

Gerson Guerrero withdrew from his bout against Gerry Peñalosa and was replaced by Tomas Rojas.

Last week, Randy Suico backed out of his fight against Silverio Ortiz because of a world title shot against unbeaten WBC lightweight champion Juan Diaz on July 15 at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Suico was replaced by another ALA ring star Czar Amonsot, but Ortiz pulled out of the card saying he doesn't want to slug it out against a southpaw like Amonsot.