Boxing team blames draw for failure
The Philippine team ran smack into the favored countries in the early going of the Asian championships in Astana, Kazakhstan, and was unable to gather any momentum.
The first to fall was welterweight Wilfredo Lopez who drew a Chinese opponent.
Next to pack his bags was 2010 Asian Games gold medalist Rey Saludar who lasted only two rounds against Mongolia’s Nyambayar Tugstsogt who won a silver in the last AIBA World championships.
Bantamweight Joegin Ladon and lightweight Charly Suarez saved the opening day with convincing victories over their Jordanian and Tajik opponents.
Ladon hammered Seif Emad Qrash17-7 while Suarez, back-to-back SEA Games gold medalist, upset Madadi Nagzebekov, ranked third the lightweight division of the World Series of Boxing, 14-11.
The second day offered no better results as Bago City’s Dennis Galvan, who also won a gold medal in last year’s SEA Games in Indonesia, succumbed to hard-hitting Kim Choi Song of the People’s Republic of Korea in a slambang affair, 8-18.
Last Saturday, Ladon met China’s Zhang Jiawei and engaged him in toe-to-toe action that resulted in an even count after round 1 and the Chinese up by only one in round 2. However, the 30 year-old Navyman tried too hard to offset the slim advantage of the Chinese and paid dearly for it, eventually bowing, 8-13.
ABAP executive director Ed Picson, who leads the delegation here, admitted “we expected the competition to be top-notch but we just didn’t get any breaks in the draw. Our four losses were to Mongolia, DPRK and twice to China. How much stronger could the opposition be? But it just goes to show that we need to catch up with the powers in boxing. We cannot depend on the luck of the draw to get momentum.”
Going into Monday’s bouts, the Philippine’s last man standing is Charly Suarez.
“We’ve got a seasoned campaigner in Charly and he is coming off a sensational stint in the WSB. We hope he can turn things around. But he has a tough task – he needs to win the gold medal to qualify for the Olympics. But if there’s one guy who can pull it off, it’s Charly”, added Picson.
So far, only Mark Anthony Barriga has qualified for the Olympiad. He is with the RP team in Kazakhstan for training. They had previously been in Bangkok also for a joint training camp.
ABAP president Ricky Vargas and secretary-general Patrick Gregorio are scheduled to arrive Monday in time for the Extraordinary General Assembly of the Asian Boxing Confederation to be held here April 10.
The first to fall was welterweight Wilfredo Lopez who drew a Chinese opponent.
Next to pack his bags was 2010 Asian Games gold medalist Rey Saludar who lasted only two rounds against Mongolia’s Nyambayar Tugstsogt who won a silver in the last AIBA World championships.
Bantamweight Joegin Ladon and lightweight Charly Suarez saved the opening day with convincing victories over their Jordanian and Tajik opponents.
Ladon hammered Seif Emad Qrash17-7 while Suarez, back-to-back SEA Games gold medalist, upset Madadi Nagzebekov, ranked third the lightweight division of the World Series of Boxing, 14-11.
The second day offered no better results as Bago City’s Dennis Galvan, who also won a gold medal in last year’s SEA Games in Indonesia, succumbed to hard-hitting Kim Choi Song of the People’s Republic of Korea in a slambang affair, 8-18.
Last Saturday, Ladon met China’s Zhang Jiawei and engaged him in toe-to-toe action that resulted in an even count after round 1 and the Chinese up by only one in round 2. However, the 30 year-old Navyman tried too hard to offset the slim advantage of the Chinese and paid dearly for it, eventually bowing, 8-13.
ABAP executive director Ed Picson, who leads the delegation here, admitted “we expected the competition to be top-notch but we just didn’t get any breaks in the draw. Our four losses were to Mongolia, DPRK and twice to China. How much stronger could the opposition be? But it just goes to show that we need to catch up with the powers in boxing. We cannot depend on the luck of the draw to get momentum.”
Going into Monday’s bouts, the Philippine’s last man standing is Charly Suarez.
“We’ve got a seasoned campaigner in Charly and he is coming off a sensational stint in the WSB. We hope he can turn things around. But he has a tough task – he needs to win the gold medal to qualify for the Olympics. But if there’s one guy who can pull it off, it’s Charly”, added Picson.
So far, only Mark Anthony Barriga has qualified for the Olympiad. He is with the RP team in Kazakhstan for training. They had previously been in Bangkok also for a joint training camp.
ABAP president Ricky Vargas and secretary-general Patrick Gregorio are scheduled to arrive Monday in time for the Extraordinary General Assembly of the Asian Boxing Confederation to be held here April 10.
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