Bautista in blazing return

WBO No.1 super bantamweight contender Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista was razor-sharp in his ring return from a seven-month layoff, forcing the aging Brazilian champion Giovanni Andrade to throw in the towel before the start of the fourth round yesterday at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Florida.

Bautista, thus, stretched his unbeaten record to 21-0 now spiked with 16KOs since entering the pro backyard three years ago. Andrade slipped to 52-10 with 43KOs.

Bautista came out firing a barrage of punishing blows to Andrade right after the opening bell.

Bautista's relentless attack proved too much for Andrade to handle, prompting the battered Brazilian "Bomber" to surrender by not coming out for the fourth round of a scheduled tenner.

Andrade complained to the ring doctor that he could not breath after absorbing a spate of Bautista's energy-sapping body shots.

"He hit me with too many body shots and everytime they landed, I felt like I was being stabbed," Andrade told philboxing.com in a post-fight interview.

At 20 years old, Bautista's masterful domination of the 36-year-old Andrade justified once more that in boxing, youth is oftentimes sharper than experience.

Heading into the Andrade bout, the Boholano ring sensation from Cebu's famed ALA Boxing Gym of Antonio "Bidoy" L. Aldeguer has not fought since scoring a third round knockout of Nicaraguan Roberto Bonilla last May 20 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

But Bautista showed no signs of rust as he was devastating than ever to plunge himself into a glorious comeback trail.

Bautista is likely to fight next in the undercard of Z Gorres' title challenge against reigning WBO super flyweight champion Fernando Montiel of Mexico on February 17 either in Manila or in Cebu.