Mandaue bags two golds in ABAP slugfest

CEBU, Philippines - Team Mandaue captured two gold medals and a bronze, while Cebu City came up with only two silvers and a bronze at the end of the PLDT-ABAP National Boxing Championships at the Maasin City gym.

Mandaue City's Hipolito Banal, Jr. survived Davao del Norte's John Patrick Dinolan's late fightback to clinch the boys light flyweight gold.

The 15-year-old Banal, youngest brother of WBO bantamweight contender AJ, dominated the opening round by connecting on combinations, giving him a four-point cushion early that he preserved by hanging tough enough to survive Dinolan's late, desperate attempt to turn things around in the last two of a three-round bout.

When the smoke of battle cleared, Banal, a first year high school student at Cabancalan National High School, leaned on that 5-1 score on the opening round to outpoint Dinolan, 12-8, as the last two rounds wound up tied, 2-2 and 5-5.

"I knew I was leading in the first round and he (Dinolan) was desperate in the last two rounds to I just kept my focus," said Banal, who hopes to make it to the national team, make the Olympics and win a medal there before turning pro at the age of 19 years old, in Filipino.

Banal's teammate Jeffrey Estella made it a double celebration for Mandaue after pulling off a come-from-behind victory over Himamaylan's Mario Bautista via countback to snatch the boys' pinweight gold.

Estella was trailing, 3-6, after the first two rounds but came charging back in the last round to force a 9-9 deadlock after the back. After a countback, Estella was leading 52-50 in all five judges' scorecard to seal the dramatic win.           

Cebu City, on the other hand, failed to win a gold with youth division 52 kgs. entry Rodex Piala and 66 kgs. Reoxyl Tabogon settling for only a silver each. Another TCC bet, Allan Refuela, wound up with a bronze also under the 52 kgs. division. (FREEMAN)