A boxing scandal broke out over the weekend in Tagbilaran City, Bohol when Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista beat up a visiting foe who turned out to be not the boxer that Bautista’s handlers wanted him to face and defeat.
Promoter Michael Aldeguer of Cebu, who heads ALA Promotions, said the boxer who arrived here turned out to be Genaro “Panterita” Garcia (10-11 win-loss with six knockouts), and not the veteran and heavy-handed Genaro “Poblanito” Garcia (37-8 with 21 knockouts).
Aldeguer said his group is planning to take legal action against Mexican agent Hugo Correa for act of deceit in sending the wrong Garcia.
Garcia arrived in Cebu late Wednesday night and suspicions about his true identity surfaced during a press conference as he answered wrongly when asked by the press about the toughest fighter he has fought.
New Zealand referee Bruce McTavish, a long-time Philippine resident also swore that the Garcia who came here was not the Garcia ALA Promotions wanted because McTavish had refereed one of the real Genaro Garcia’s world title fights in Jan. 2009 in Japan.
For his part, Aldeguer said he felt suspicious the moment Garcia arrived in Cebu because he was all alone and without a trainer with him.
He said Garcia took a circuitous route from Mexico City to Cebu via Amsterdam, South Africa, and Incheon, Korea because he didn’t have a US visa that will allow him to transit in Los Angeles or San Francisco.
