Bautista Destroys Marquez; Nietes Stops Castro

By Boxing News - 08/30/2008 - Comments

bautista2244242.jpgBy Francisco Chantengo: Making his third appearance since being destroyed by Mexican Daniel Ponce de Leon in a 1st round blowout last year in August, number #2 ranked World Boxing Organization super bantamweight challenger Rey Bautista (26-1, 19 KOs) stopped Mexican Eden Marquez (16-4-3, 12 KOs) at 1:08 of the 2nd round of a scheduled 12-round bout on Saturday night at the Cebu Waterfront Hotel & Casino, Lahug, in Cebu City, Philippines.

After getting off to a slow start in the 1st round and giving up the round due to inactivity, Bautista, 22, came out on fire in the 2nd round, and knocked Marquez down with a left hook. Marquez would make it up before the count of ten, but shortly after that he was put down for good with a powerful right hand from Bautista that sent Marquez down flat on his back on the canvas. The fight was then stopped immediately at 1:08 of the 2nd round with Marquez still on his back and badly hurt.

Bautista, who was defending his WBO Inter-Continental super bantamweight title, fought passively in the first round reminding one of his slow start against Ponce de Leon last August. Although his slow start may have been by design, some of it just seemed to be passiveness on his part, which allowed Marquez to land a lot of unanswered shots in the round.

Despite having lost three out of his last seven bouts, Marquez showed respectable power, hitting Bautista with single right and left hand shots to the body and head. Many of the punches were the slow looping variety which whiplashed Bautista’s head on impact. If this was a strategy for Bautista to take these shots in the first round, it must have been formulated after a long night of drinking because he was getting tagged often and he looked bad, nothing like a top contender.

In the second round, Marquez again started off well, hitting Bautista with left hands and hard jabs to the head. Things were going really well until he ran into a big left hand from Bautista that staggered him. Bautista then followed up quickly with a left-right combination, then another big right hand followed by a left that send Marquez down to the canvas. He got to his knees, his nose bleeding badly, and waited until the referee reached the count of nine before he got to his feet.

Bautista then went after him, plastering him with single shots over and over until Marquez briefly stopped the beating by shoving Bautista into the ropes. However, he immediately resumed thrashing him, landing a combination and then a big right hand that send Marquez down falling backwards onto the canvas. He lay there, not making a move at which point the referee moved in and halted the bout at 1:08 of the second round.

It was a good win for Bautista. However, he needs to consider stepping up the level of his opposition because if the third soft opponent that’s been served up to him since his demolition by de Leon last year. At some point, he’s going to have to get back in the ring with a live body because he’s doing himself no favors by fighting easy opponents over and over again without stop.

In other action, World Boxing Organization minimumweight champion Donnie Nietes (23-1-3, 14 KOs) also only needed two rounds to take out his over-matched opponent, ninth ranked WBO minimumweight challenger Eddy Castro (12-4-1, 9 KOs). Nietes, 26, just had way too much power for the smaller Castro, knocking him down in the 1st round and then finishing him off with a second knockdown, a chopping right hand, in the second round. Fighting with a quiet calm, Nietes seemed to hurt Castro with every punch he threw at him. Unlike the Bautista bout, Nietes was in command at all times, using his powerful right hand and left hook to do a lot of damage.

Castro used a lot of bobbing and weaving in the first round, making it somewhat difficult for Nietes to track him. However, before long Nietes connected with a big right hand that sent Castro down to the canvas. He got up at the count of none, looking hurt and frightened. Seconds later, Nietes staggered him with a powerful left hook that sent Castro across the ring in a staggering fashion.

Gamely, Castro attempted to fight back but was met with superior fire power from Nietes, who shut his offense down cold. For the rest of the round it was target practice for Nietes. In the second round, Nietes again staggered Castro with a big left hook. This time, though, Castro fought back well, landing weak shots.

While attempting to attack Nietes, Castro walked into a big right hand that sent him backwards. Nietes then moved in and after taking a left to the midsection from Castro, he nailed him with a chopping right hand that sent him down. The referee Raul Caiz Jr. then immediately stopped the fight at 2:49 of the 2nd round.



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