Go Team Philippines! RP goes to war vs. Mexico for $500K World Cup to

There are four main reasons why a country goes to war - for territorial expansion, for religious freedom, for ideological supremacy, and for economic wealth.

A few years ago, peace-loving nations have had declared a global war on terrorism. Overall from the ancient times up to the modern era, there had been several root causes of war. Today, you may add boxing glory in the list.

The Filipino pugs will fight for national pride and bragging rights as the world’s mightiest boxing power as they head to war against the defending Mexican champions in the blockbuster Philippines vs. Mexico Boxing World Cup this morning (RP time) at the Arco Arena in Sacramento, California.

At the forefront of RP’s ring army is the undefeated Boholano phenomenon Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista, who will challenge WBC super bantamweight champion Daniel Ponce de Leon in what is perceived by many as an explosive rumble of two great warriors with devastating punching powers.

The 21-year Bautista is unscathed in 23 fights with 17 wins by stoppage since turning pro in June 2003, while Ponce de Leon is similarly impressive with his 31-1 win-loss record embellished with 28KOs.Bautista is a busy puncher and an aggressive fighter with great willpower as he had shown in his previous fights against Gerardo Espinoza and Sergio Manuel Medina. And gauging from De Leon’s performance in his last bout against Gerry Peñalosa, the Boholano warrior has all what it takes to disarm the Mexican champion.

Bill Scherer of tigerboxing.com is among the few who believed in the capabilities of Bautista to tame Ponce de Leon.

“In de Leon, Boom Boom faces an often awkward, yet strong opponent. De Leon often makes horrendous technical mistakes. Against Peñalosa, he repeatedly threw long uppercuts from the outside allowing a master boxer like Peñalosa to counter with ease. Boom Boom’s power, speed, and tight defense should be enough to carry the day for him,” remarked Scherer.

Peñalosa (51-6-2, 34KOs) too will see action in the multi-million Golden Boy Promotions card against WBO bantamweight titleholder Jhonny Gonzalez (34-5, 21KOs). This could be a swanwong of a fight for Peñalosa if he fails again in his world title shot.

Also worth watching for is the stylish Cebuano slugger Z “The Dream” Gorres (26-2-1, 14KOs), who will take on former WBC light flyweight champion Eric Ortiz (26-6-1, 17KOs) in an IBF super flyweight eliminator.

Completing the six-bout RP vs. Mexico showdown are AJ “Bazooka” Banal (13-0-1, 10KOs) against Jorge Cardenas (9-3-3, 6KOs), Diosdado Gabi (29-3-1, 21KOs) versus Jose Angel Beranza (30-9-2, 25KOs), and RP bantamweight champion Michael Domingo (31-14-2, 12KOs) opposite Miguel Roman (21-0, 15KOs).

The country with the most number of wins will take possession of the gold and diamond-encrusted US$500,000 World Cup trophy. In the event of a tie, the country with the more number of knockouts will be declared as champion. In case of another standoff, the country that wins the more number of rounds combined will emerge the victor.

Interestingly, De Leon and Gonzales were part of Team Mexico that swept four titles from Thailand to win the first ever Boxing World Cup on October 30, 2005 at the Desert Diamon Casino in Tuczon, Arizona. The other fighters who catapulted Mexico to the historic triumph were WBO super flyweight champion Fernando Montiel and WBO light flyweight champion Hugo Cazares.