Boom Boom, Banal return home

It’ll be a triumphant return home for Rey (Boom Boom) Bautista and A. J. Banal who arrive in Manila tomorrow morning on a Philippine Airlines flight from Las Vegas, fresh from scoring decisive wins in the undercard of one of the biggest boxing shows ever at the MGM Grand Garden Arena last weekend.

Bautista, 20, and Banal, 18, will spend the night in Manila then fly to Cebu on Friday where the ALA (Antonio Lopez Aldeguer) Boys will face the media in a press conference at the Marriott Hotel. Then, Bautista, a Candijay native known as "The Pride of Bohol," will proceed to Tagbilaran City for a red carpet welcome prepared by Mayor Dan Neri Lim.

Aldeguer, who owns the ALA boxing stable of Cebu, said yesterday Golden Boy Promotions vice president Eric Gomez and international matchmaker Sampson Lewkowicz were impressed by Bautista’s unanimous 12-round decision over previously unbeaten Argentine Sergio Medina and called it the best fight in the pay-per-view program which included the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Oscar de la Hoya bout.

"The boys never got the chance to talk to Oscar but we talked with Eric and Sampson," said Aldeguer in a text message from Las Vegas.

"Both were very impressed with Boom Boom’s fight. They and many more said it was the best of the three pay-per-view fights. Boom Boom was hounded by fans after the fight. He met and had a photo taken with (TV boxing analyst) Larry Merchant and was told he was one of the best prospects he has seen."

Merchant has covered Manny Pacquiao’s major HBO fights and speaks highly of the Filipino icon. For Merchant to be swept off his feet in the same way that Pacquiao has gained his admiration is a clear indication of Bautista’s coming of age.

Bautista is now lined up to challenge WBO superbantamweight champion Daniel Ponce de Leon of Mexico in the main event of a World Cup card featuring at least three title fights between Filipinos and Mexicans in Cebu or Manila in late August or early September.

Bautista, the second of six children, dedicated his win over Medina to his father Alberto and mother Susana. His dream is to provide a better life for his impoverished family. A second year University of Visayas criminology student, Bautista hopes to someday become a policeman like his uncle Domingo who is the chief inspector in Bohol.

As for Banal, he was docked a point for a low blow but had more than enough cushion to hammer out a unanimous eight-round decision over Mexico’s Juan Alberto Rosas. He won seven rounds in two of the three judges’ scorecards.

A source said Banal fought with a blister in his left foot, similar to Pacquiao’s impediment in a 2004 draw with Juan Manuel Marquez. But it was no excuse for Banal’s failure to knock out the durable Rosas.