Bautista KOs inept foe, apologizes to spectators

Tagbilaran City, Bohol— Against an opponent who could be easily beaten even by a neophyte boxer, Rey “Boom-Boom” Bautista recorded perhaps the easiest victory of his boxing career as he made short work of the inept Genaro Garcia with a second round stoppage in the Pinoy Pride 12: Bakbakan Sa Bohol last Saturday night at the Carlos P. Garcia Sports Complex.

After the easy win, Bautista was not in a celebratory mood when he addressed more than 30,000 spectators. The Candijay-native boxer was even apologetic.

“I am sorry if the fight ended up like that. I was also a victim here. They sent the wrong boxer and I can’t do anything about it,” said Bautista, who now has 33 wins with 25 KOs and two losses.

The outcome of the fight was something that was expected.

Garcia was not the Genaro Garcia who was contracted by the ALA Promotions to face Bautista.

The Genaro Garcia that was supposed to fight Bautista boasted a record of 38 wins and 22 knockouts and had fought eight world champions.

The Genaro Garcia who arrived to fight Bautista had more defeats than victories (10 wins and 11 losses), turning the fight into an outright mismatch.

Just seconds into the fight, several fans were seen already heading for the exits as Garcia looked like a boxer who was still trying to learn the sport. Garcia didn’t seem to have the physique to be a boxer.

Bautista could have ended the fight right in the very first round but it seemed like he was holding his punches.

As some fans started to leave, jeers started to envelop the venue.

Amid the loud boos, Bautista started attacking Garcia and two solid hooks downed Garcia.

Garcia managed to beat the count of referee Bruce McTavish but was again floored by a short right.

This time, Garcia failed to beat the mandatory 10-count, ending the fight at the 1:24 of the second round.

Boos rang out once again when Bautista was officially declared winner.

“What a shame,” said ALA Gym founder Antonio Aldeguer of the one-sided fight. Aldeguer said he didn’t even bother to watch the fight.

In an email sent to media outlets, Michael Aldeguer, CEO/president of ALA Promotions, said they will run after Mexican boxing agent Hugo Correa, the person who sent the wrong Genaro Garcia.

“We are taking legal action against the person behind this act of deceit. Integrity which we have upheld for decades  is of utmost importance to ALA Promotions as we owe all this to our TV network partner, our sponsors and most importantly to the public,” said Aldeguer.

“We are really disappointed with how the things went,” said Michael.

Michael said Bautista, now winner of seven straight fights, will next see action against a still undetermined opponent on May 26 in Manila.

UNDERCARDS

SAVE THE DAY

The action-packed undercards saved the dull main event.

ALA Gym’s Genesis “Azukal” Servania kept his unbeaten record intact with a hard-earned unanimous win over Kenya’s Nick Otieno.

Scores were 99-91, 98-92 and 98-92.

Servania remained undefeated in 17 fights, including six knockouts.

Jason “El Niño” Pagara, another ALA Gym stalwarts, rebounded from a loss the last time out by scoring a second-round TKO victory over Indonesian Frans Yarangga.

Pagara floored Yarangga with a crackling one-two combo in the first round.

Pagara continued to dominate Yarangga in the second round, where he floored the Indonesian thrice, the last one was at the 2:41 mark.

Michael “Bruce Lee” Domingo, also of ALA Gym, kept his flickering career alive when when knocked down Marvin Tampus in the 1:28 of the first round.

The other bouts saw Mark Acub knocking out Freddie Martinez in the sixth round and  Juren Labordo overcoming a first round knockdown to edge Hector Rojoca, 38-37, 38-37 and 39-37.

Jimmy Paypa scored a fifth round KO win over Royroy Sumugat, while  Rey Morales scored a majority decision over Jordan Catubay.

Pedro Balaba posted a TKO win over Jerome Casas.