LOVE for for ALA Boy Rey “Boom-Boom” Bautista will have to wait.
During yesterday’s Scoop sports forum at the Baseline Restaurant held to drum up interest on their upcoming WBO Night of Champions at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino, on August 30, Bautista, in a rare occasion, let members of the press into his private life.
Unfortunately for the mediamen, the boxing champ’s lovelife looks paltry compared to his exploits inside the brutal boxing ring.
“I want to focus more on my boxing career because this is where I can elevate my family from poverty,” the 22-year-old Bautista said, the reigning WBO International Superbantam champion.
Unlike other young adults of his age who spend most of their time going out, Bautista confessed that he hasn’t tried that because he usually spends most of his time at the boxing gym.
“We need to sacrifice to be able to achieve our goal, we need to have focus and discipline as well,” he declared.
And this so called focus will be what the Ala Gym Stable will be closely looking into when Bautista fights on August 30. Ala gym honchos, it was learned, will use the fight as gauge whether the Candijay, Bohol native will get a slot in the undercard of the planned Oscar Dela Hoya-Manny Pacquiao mega showdown on December 6, 2008.
According to Edito Villamor, Ala gym’s chief trainer, Bautista and the other fighters are ready to face their opponents in the WBO Night of Champions card.
Bautista will battle challenger Eden Marquez of Mexico City while reigning WBO World Miniflyweight champion Donnie “Ahas” Nietes will fight Nicaragua’s Eddy Castro, the WBO No. 9 contender.
Just like Bautista, Nietes came from humble beginnings and rose to boxing stardom through dedication and determination. When he was 18, Nietes took a gamble and left Negros to work as a utility man at the Ala Gym.
“It was not right there and then that I was absorbed as a boxer but when Sir Ala gave me the break, I grabbed the opportunity and didn’t frustrate him.” Nietes owns the distinction as Ala Gym’s first world champion when he snatched the WBO World Miniflyweight crown.
