BEIJING - Sinabi ni Philippine chef de mission at Bacolod Rep. Monico Puentevella na ang unang round na kabiguan ni Harry Tañamor ay nangangahulugan ng pagbabago sa boxing para masiguro ang competitiveness ng Philippines sa mga international competitions.
“First and foremost we need a bigger pool of boxers. Second, we need the Cuban boxers to stay here for another four years to train our boxers,” ani Puentevella.
“I’ve always been frustrated with boxing, from the time of Onyok Velasco to the Athens Olympics and Asian Games and now here in Beijing,” dagdag pa niya.
“What can we do? We don’t like the scoring system but that’s how the ball bounces. I’ll always be frustrated with boxing as long as there’s no transparency in the sport.”
Nagreklamo si Cuban coach Juan Enrique Steyners Tissert sa mga hurado na hindi naiskuran ang mga suntok sa katawan ni Tañamor sa 6-3 kabiguan nito kay Ghanian Manyo Plange.
“The important thing now is for us to continue the development of amateur boxing,” ani Puentevella.
Sinabi rin ng weightlifting association president na humatak lamang ng may 120 boxers ang national championships noong nakaraang taon na nagsilbing qualifying round para sa RP team na lalahok sa world qualifying para sa Beijing Olympics. (Gerry Carpio)