'Boom Boom' back with a bang

MANILA, Philippines - Fighting with renewed confidence after undergoing surgery to repair a fractured left hand, Rey (Boom Boom) Bautista scored a spectacular knockout over Indonesia’s surprisingly tough Maragin (Dinamita) Marbun at 1:25 of the seventh round to claim the vacant interim WBC International featherweight title at the Waterfront Hotel ballroom in Cebu last Friday night.

It was an acid test for Bautista who ended an 11-month layoff and the once world-rated brawler from Candijay, Bohol, passed with flying colors.

Bautista, 23, decked Marbun with a right-left combination to the head near the end of the fourth round but failed to finish off the Indonesian who had previously been stopped only once on cuts by Duangpetch Saengmorakot two years ago. Marbun came charging back in the sixth as Bautista appeared to lose steam but in the seventh, the Filipino found his second wind to fluster the rugged visitor.

A left straight to the face staggered Marbun who desperately tried to fight back early in the seventh. Bautista, sensing the Indonesian was dazed, continued to rain blows from all angles. Another left found its mark on Marbun’s face and Bautista landed a right as Marbun fell backwards, sliding a few feet across the ring and nearly slipping out of the ring apron under the ropes.

Marbun attempted to get up but his legs wouldn’t oblige and New Zealand referee Bruce McTavish didn’t bother to count him out. Doctors rushed in to check on Marbun who was ordered to stay flat on the canvas for about five minutes. At first, Marbun told the doctors to back off but was held down as an oxygen mask was put on his face. Marbun screamed “No” and laughed because of the apparent overreaction by the doctors. Then, he got up to congratulate Bautista.

The bout was hardly one-sided. Marbun repeatedly connected with his right whenever Bautista moved forward and his left opened nicks around the Filipino’s left eye. Although Bautista improved his stand-up defense, he still lacked the mindset to cover up when throwing punches from close range. Both the Filipino’s eyes were a little puffy from the pummeling. But the good news was his left hand didn’t swell and didn’t hurt.

Bautista suffered a fractured scaphoid – the bone of the thumb side of the carpus that is the largest in the proximal row – while sparring with Gerry Penalosa two years ago and never revealed the injury until losing to Mexico’s Heriberto Ruiz on points last November. He fought with pain in his left wrist when he was knocked out in the first round by Mexico’s Daniel Ponce de Leon in a WBO superbantamweight title bout in 2007.

Last February, Bautista underwent surgery to repair the damage and orthopedic hand surgeon Dr. Tammy de los Reyes of the Manila Doctors Hospital grafted a bone and inserted a screw in the left wrist. Bautista endured five months of daily therapy before resuming his training.

“I wanted to win so badly,” said Bautista. “After I knocked him down in the fourth, I didn’t rush trying to put him out. I know if I got careless, he could knock me out, too. My left hand gave me confidence. He predicted he would knock me out in six rounds but I told myself how can he do that with my left hand working. But I’ll admit I was groggy a few times and once, in between rounds, I almost blacked out.”

Bautista said he was conscious of his defense and held up his hands to protect his chin. When he got tagged in close exchanges, Bautista said the only thing that entered his mind was to counter.

ALA Boxing Gym owner Tony Aldeguer rated Bautista’s showing as eight in a scale of 10. “He won it with his left hand,” he said. “The left has always been his main weapon and it wasn’t there for him when he fought Ponce de Leon and Ruiz. Now, the left is fine and you can expect a lot more from Boom Boom. He still has to work on his defense particularly when coming in. But he’ll make the adjustments. Two more tune-ups and he’ll be ready for the big ones out there.”

Bautista was ahead in the three judges’ scorecards when the fight was stopped. Teddy Alivio had it 59-55, Salven Lagumbay 58-55 and Edward Ligas 57-56. The win raised Bautista’s record to 27-2, with 20 KOs. The loss dropped Marbun’s mark to 19-6-1, with 7 KOs.

In the chief aperitif, superflyweight Marjohn Yap scored a technical knockout win when veteran Pramunsak Posuwan of Thailand retired with cramps in the left leg at the start of the 10th round. Yap, 20, led in two of the three judges scorecards at the time of Posuwan’s surrender. Posuwan, 39, is a two-time Olympian who once fought Jose (Carita) Lopez for the WBO 115-pound title.

In other tenners, lightweight Czar Amonsot pounded out a unanimous decision over Thailand-based Jesus Muzaka Singwancha of the Congo and another lightweight Jason Pagara beat Thailand’s Decha Kokiet-Gym also via a unanimous verdict.