Boom Boom to face Nicaraguan slugger

Undefeated WBO Asia Pacific bantamweight champion Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista will tackle Nicaraguan Roberto "El Chucky" Bonilla in a 10-round war fight in the undercard of Marco Antonio Barrera’s WBC super featherweight title defense against fellow Mexican Rocky Juarez on May 20 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

"We just received word from Golden Boy Promotions through Leon Panoncillo that matchmaker Sampson Lewkowicz has confirmed the opponent of Rey "Boom-Boom" Bautista on May 20 at the Staples Center," said international promoter Sammy Gello-ani.

A grizzled veteran of 30 fights, the 31-year-old Bonilla has fought not a few notable world-rated fighters with the likes of Ricardo Vargas and Julio Cesar Avila, whom he beat by unanimous decision over 12 rounds to win the WBO Latino super flyweight title on Feb. 23, 2002 in Managua.

Bonilla, who carries a 23-7 win-loss record packed with 14 KOs, has won all his four fights last year with one no-contest against Luis Sandoval, whom he defeated by sixth round TKO in their Dec. 3, 2005 rematch.

Bonilla though is coming off a heartbreaking seventh round TKO defeat to interim WBA super bantamweight champion Celestino Caballero in their championship bout last Feb. 2 at the Centro de Convenciones Figali in Panama City.

The Bautista-Bonilla showdown is one of the three bouts that will be shown on HBO pay-per-view telecast.

This will be the fourth time that the 19-year-old Bautista will see action in the United States, his second at the homecourt of NBA’s LA Lakers.