Boom Boom and Bazooka Conquer Las Vegas!

Yesterday, Cinco de Mayo, was another great day for Philippine boxing. Two of the country's brightest prospects, super-bantamweight Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and super-flyweight Alex John "Bazooka" Banal, made a big splash in the international boxing waters with significant victories in the undercard of one of the most biggest fight in recent years, "The World Awaits", headlined by the "Golden Boy" Oscar De La Hoya and "Pretty Boy" Floyd Mayweather.

A.J. Banal, 115 lbs at weigh-in, pounded a unanimous decision win over adversary Juan Alberto Rosas, 112 lbs, in one of the supporting bouts. There were no knockdowns but Bazooka was able to prove his dominance by winning in all the judges' cards. Banal upped his record to 13-0-1 (10 KOs), while the game Mexican fell to 25-3.

One of the main undercards, Boom Boom Bautista, 122 lbs, knocked down his opponent Sergio "Rocky" Medina, 122 lbs, twice (6th round and 11th round) before scoring a unanimous decision victory. To his credit, Medina was able to stagger the young Bautista to the ropes at the 7th round. But in the end, Boom Boom showed he was the superior fighter and handed the tough Argentinian his first loss. Bautista preserved his immaculate record 23-0 with 17 KO's, while Medina dropped to 28-1.

As a result of this title eliminator, WBO#1 challenger Bautista is now being groomed to challenge WBO super-bantamweight champion Daniel Ponce de Leon. Ponce de Leon recently defended his crown with a unanimous, but unpopular, decision over veteran Gerry Penalosa. It is speculated that a Bautista-de Leon matchup would be a magnificent bout waiting to happen. A.J. Banal, on the other hand, is showing lots of promise. He is primed to be a future champion in the super-flyweight or bantamweight divisions, although he probably needs to add more competitive bouts to boost his experience.

The long training in Puerto Rico injected lots of positive mojo in the two Pinoy pugilists, both proteges of Cebu boxing manager Antonio L. Aldeguer, as they came to Las Vegas with fire in their eyes and thunder in their fists. Being in the presence of "Golden Boy" Oscar De La Hoya must have inspired the two youngsters to give their best in their workouts. World-renowned trainer Freddie Roach, who has been underseeing the training of Banal and Bautista, have glowing words to say about the two contenders. Even Golden Boy himself was impressed with the young fighters.

I'd say, unless Boom Boom and Bazooka, whose explosive monikers suit their fighting styles, do something ludicrous to jeopardize their current status, like raping a beauty pageant contestant, the future of these two warriors looks bright as the summer sun in a cloudless day.

Enrico Monsanto is a freelance writer. He writes mainly about guitars, music and sports-related topics. Most of his work can be seen at his blog, http://monsaint.blogspot.com

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