08.08.07 – By Joshua “Travz” Travilla: Undefeated challenger Rey “Boom-Boom” Bautista (23 -0 -17), the reigning WBO Intercontinental and WBO Youth Super Bantamweight Champion, and WBO Super Bantamweight Champion Daniel Ponce De Leon (31-1-28) will be the main attraction of the incoming Boxing World Cup this coming August 11, 2007 at Arco Arena, Sacramento, California, USA.
Both are considered pillars of their respective boxing teams. In other words, they will carry their respective native land in their shoulders and to attest whose the best in the world in their division. At 27, Ponce De Leon was known to be a knockout puncher adding to his recognition when he easily demolished a Thai Challenger, Sod Looknongyangtoy (25-0, prior to the fight), in just 52 seconds in the very first round! While Bautista, 21, is also a vicious puncher and a very aggressive fighter.
De Leon’s last knockout win was against a Mexican fighter, Marino Montiel, for the WBO Intercontinental and WBO Youth Super Bantamweight Championship in Cebu City, Philippines, a fight in which Bautista won via third round knock out.
Many boxing fans were not exactly impressed by De Leons’s last outing, however, against a small, former WBC flyweight champion Gerry “Fearless” Peñalosa. In the later rounds of the fight, De Leon failed to execute, landing few hard shots, and instead choosing to run and keep Peñalosa on the outside, perhaps knowing that he was ahead on points. To put it lightly, The bout resulted in more than few boos from the crowd.
Bautista, on the other hand, sometimes gets too careless in the ring, as he sometimes gets too cocky and forgets his defense, causing him to take unnecessary punishment. Shockingly, he was badly hurt and almost stopped in his last fight against formerly undefeated Argentine, Sergio Manuel Medina, for the WBO Eliminator way back May 05, 2007. Lucky for Bautista, however, he was able to withstand – barely – the barrage of punches unleashed by Medina.
Because of these scenarios, both boxers will be clearly be going on out against each other, trying to take each others heads of with every punch thrown. This bout can be possibly a great candidate for the Fight of the Year.