Ruiz vows KO vs ‘Boom Boom’

Dangerous Mexican fighter Heriberto Ruiz has vowed to knock out Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista in their eagerly awaited rematch in “Pinoy Pride 6” at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino this Saturday.

“I will beat him in front of his countrymen,” vowed Ruiz, who first beat Bautista in an eight-rounder in Las Vegas in 2008.

“Bautista is good, but I will be ready,” Ruiz told Mexican cornerman Mike Lopez, who lives in Cebu, in an overseas telephone call.

Ruiz, who arrived with his father-trainer and members of his team in Cebu on Monday night, said he has been “training very hard and doing a lot of sparring.”

The 33-year-old Mexican (46-10-2 with 28 KOs) said he was not impressed by Bautista after watching the Filipino’s last two fights against Alejandro Barrera, a cousin of Mexican legend Marco Antonio Barrera.

Bautista won the first bout by a fourth-round TKO in August last year and the rematch by a third-round knockout last January.

Conditioning coach Pio Solon told the Inquirer that Bautista was “punching even harder when he stopped Barrera in his last fight.”