Boom Boom handa laban kay Andrade

Handang-handa na si Fili-pino boxing sensation Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista na su-mabak sa aksyon laban kay Brazilian fighter Giovanni An-drade sa Disyembre 2 (Linggo sa bansa) sa St. Pete Times Forum sa Tampa, Florida.

"His sparrings have im-proved because he is more alert," obserbasyon ni trainer Edito Villamor sa ikinikilos ng 19-anyos na si Bautista laban sa kanyang mga sparmates sa Wild Card Boxing Gym ni Fred-die Roach. "He doesn’t waste his punches because his sparmates are stylish boxers and he moves well because he’s more conditioned now."

Bunga ng kanyang injury sa collar bone at pagkakaro-on ng lagnat, dalawang be-ses nabigo ang pambato ng Bohol na makalaban para sa kanyang hinahangad na world bantamweight crown.

"It’s alright now. I had al-ready trained a month in Cebu and did some sparring there," sabi ni Bautista, nagbabandera ng 20-0 win-loss ring record tampok ang 15 knockouts. "Then I came here and did some sparring with some very good boxers."

Ilang mahalagang turo rin ang ibinigay ni Roach kay Bautista laban kay Andrade, nagtataglay ng 52-9 card kasa-ma ang matinding 43 KOs.

"Keep off the ropes, work on my defense and improve my footwork. Try not to keep too wide a stance so that I will be able to catch my opponent," wika ni Bautista, dating bantamweight champion ng World Boxing Organization (WBO) Asia Pacific.

Kabilang sa mga nakapa-litan ng suntok ni Bautista sa loob ng tatlong rounds ay sina IBF No. 1 super flyweight con-tender Dimitri Kirilov at dating NABO super flyweight cham-pion Kahren Harutnuyan.

Kasama sana sa under-card si Bautista sa Manny Pac-quiao-Oscar Larios fight noong Hulyo at sa Marco Antonio Barrera-Rocky Juarez bout noong Oktubre kundi lamang siya nagkaroon ng sakit at col-lar bone injury. (R. Cadayona)