The sorry loss of Filipino boxer Mark Anthony Barriga to Kazakh opponent Birzhan Zhakypov by a close 17-16 decision in the light flyweight division at the London Olympics may be harder to live down than the other losses by the rest of the 11-man Philippine team.
But the difficulty in accepting this particular defeat is only due to the fact that it came in the sport of boxing, which is the Philippines’ only realistic hope of winning any medal in the Olympics. It is not, it has to be pointed out, because we were robbed of a decision.
Those who have seen the fight, and who know well enough of boxing to view it objectively, saw a fight that was so close it could have gone the other way. The score of 17-16 bears this out. Even if Barriga was not penalized and won, he still would have won only by a point.
In other words, it was a fight neither fighter won or lost convincingly. The decision was ultimately determined by the breaks of the game as seen by the judges. For a claim of fraud to be valid, Barriga should have fought convincingly superior and lose. Then we can cry being robbed. But if the only one making so much noise is somebody like Ronnie Nathanielz, who cannot cover a fight without taking sides and thus messes up the coverage, and who invariably cries foul each time his favored athlete loses, then it is not worth anyone’s while to whine.
Look, boxing used to make up the staple of our hopes and chances in the Olympics. That none of our boxers made it through the Olympic qualifiers with Barriga making it only through the “backdoor” of a silver medal finish in the world championships tells us clearly where we stand.
And where we stood never inspired much confidence. In fact, this had been the quietest run-up to any sporting meet we have seen. While the likes of Nathanielz used to crank up stories that made it appear our fighters were fighting armless dummies, there was none of that hooplah.
It is enough that Barriga gave his heart out for that elusive chance to win a medal. That is enough to make this nation and his countrymen proud. Losing does not make him less of a boxer. There was simply someone who was better.
A fight that close, overturning a decision to favor the Philippine protest only serves to swing the cloud of doubt to the other side. Having the Kazakhs cry foul never really resolves the issue one way or the other. Best to be the best next time and leave no room for doubt.