CEBU CITY—A bloodied Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista got his revenge over Heriberto Ruiz Saturday night, but was far from satisfied with the technical decision win in the headliner of Pinoy Pride 6: Grudge Rematch here.
An apologetic Bautista said Ruiz deprived him, and the over 3,000 fans that packed the Pacific grand ballroom of the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel & Casino, of a clear-cut victory after the bout was stopped 56 seconds into the seventh of the scheduled 12-rounder.
Bautista emerged with a bloody two-inch cut on his left temple and Ruiz had a gash on his right eyebrow following a clash of heads earlier, forcing referee Danrex Tapdasan to halt the contest.
Upon examination, ring physician Dr. Jose Cruz Unabia declared the Filipino unfit to continue and Bautista was declared the winner based on the scorecards of the three judges after six rounds.
Angeles City-based New Zealander Bruce McTavish and Indonesian Muhammad Rois had Bautista ahead at 69-65, with Filipino Rey Danseco pegging it at 68-65 for the pride of Bohol who crowned himself the International Boxing Federation International featherweight titlist.
“I’m willing to fight him till death, but the fight was stopped,” said Bautista, who also sustained a two-centimeter cut due to another head butt in the third round. “He did it to me before and now he did it again.”
When they first fought on Nov. 22, 2008, in Las Vegas, Ruiz also head-butted Bautista and won by unanimous decision.
The 33-year-old Ruiz started strongly, stalking and beating Bautista to the punch in the first two rounds.
But in the last 30 seconds of the third round, Bautista found his range and stunned the Mexican with 1-2 combinations.
According to Chad Caneres, media officer of organizer ALA Promotions, Dr. Unabia said he waved off the fight since Bautista sustained arterial bleeding from a cut in the temple.
Bautista raised his card to 31-2 with 23 knockouts. Ruiz fell to 46-11-2 with 28 KOs.
Earlier, 18-year-old sensation Jason Pagara (27-1, 16 KOs) stopped Juan Carlos Gallegos in the fourth round of their light welter bout.
Both Bautista and Pagara are stalwarts of ALA Promotions, headed by Michael Aldeguer, who took over the reins from his father and longtime boxing patron Antonio.
Another crowd-pleaser was Edrin Dapudong of the Braveheart stable of former North Cotabato Gov. Manny Piñol.
Dapudong decked Indonesian Benja Loemoli with a body blow in the first round and then finished him off with a right uppercut to the jaw and a left hook 20 seconds into the fourth round of their 112-lb tussle.