End of the road for Bautista ALA fighter falls to Mexican foe, loses WBO belt

DAVAO CITY , Philippines   â€” In what could be the end of his checkered career, Rey ‘Boom Boom’ Bautista (34-3, 25KOs) was stripped of his WBO International featherweight title after dropping a split decision loss to Mexican Jose ‘Negro’ Ramirez (25-3, 15KOs) in the main event of the ‘Pinoy Pride XIX:Mexican Invasion’ last Saturday night at the full-packed University of Southeastern Philippines (USEP) gymnasium here.

Moments after he got schooled by the faster and more aggressive Ramirez, the 26-year-old Bautista was advised to hang up his gloves and rethink about his future.

“Boom Boom is done. I will be advising him to retire,” said ALA Boxing Gym founder Antonio ‘Bidoy’ Aldeguer. “He gave his best but he lost and I think it’s the right time for him to retire.”

“I give credit to Ramirez. He fought well, he is the more hungry boxer. We have no excuses, no reasons with Boom Boom’s loss,” said ALA Promotions President and CEO Michael P. Aldeguer.

Bautista was planning to continue his campaign for another world title shot, but he failed to live up to his fans expectation after he was outpunched and outsmarted by his Mexican foe.

Bautista was tentative against Ramirez, who immediately launched a barrage of punches that sent the ALA mainstay on the canvass.

The Boholano fighter was able to recover from the knockdown, but Ramirez already got his confidence as he continued to attack Bautista, who was busy defending himself than firing back with his own punches.

Bautista tried to come back strong in the fifth round where he engaged Ramirez in a toe-to-toe battle.In round eight, he landed some solid head shots that wobbled the Mexican.

In round 10, Bautista suffered a deep cut on his head caused by a wayward elbow from Ramirez, who was immediately deducted one-point by referee Bruce McTavish for the infraction.

The continuous flowing of blood greatly affected Bautista’s concentration and Ramirez capitalized on the opportunity by pounding on Bautista in the remaining rounds.

After 12 rounds of action, judges Salven Lagumbay and Danrex Tapdasan both scored 114-111 for Ramirez, while Edward Ligas had it 114-111 for Bautista, thus, the split verdict.

“Bautista is a good fighter, but I promised my family in Mexico that I would go home a winner. I know I would win this fight, my hard preparation paid off,” said Ramirez, who received a loud cheer by the very appreciative Davaoeño fans.

In the supporting main event, OPBF flyweight champion Rocky ‘Road Warrior’ Fuentes (35-6, 20KOs) knocked down Mexican Juan ‘Loquito’ Kantun (20-4, 15KOs) three times on the way to a lopsided unanimous decision victory.

In a classic show of unbeaten Filipino boxers, 'King' Arthur Villanueva (21-0, 11KOs) retained his OPBF super flyweight crown with a unanimous decision win over a very game Marco Demecillo Singwangcha (18-1, 14KOs).

In the other featured bout, ALA prospect Mark Bernaldez (10-0, 6KOs) pulled off a resounding second round knockout of Indonesian Arief Blader (18-10, 7KOs). (FREEMAN)