Tanamor pummels Spanish rival; RP assured of 5 bronze

HELSINKI, Finland – Lightflyweight Harry Tanamor, fighting in a higher weight division, reduced an unseasoned Spanish opponent to smithereens at the forefront of an electrifying show by Caltex Team Philippines in the 21st Gee Bee International Boxing Championships here Friday.

In the shortest, most lopsided bout of the quarterfinals, Tanamor bludgeoned Spain’s Cristobal Salgado throughout to win in a referee stopped contest (nee Outclassed) barely 50 seconds into the second round of their flyweight bout in the chilly boxing arena of the Helsinki Sports Hall.

It was a grand sequel to his gold medal triumph in the lightflyweight division of the Chowdry Cup in Azerbaijian only last month and it set the mood for two others – featherweight Roel Laguna and lightwelterweight Romeo Brin – to win their own quarterfinal bouts in the same convincing fashion later in the day.

Laguna crushed Hungarian entry Gyorgy Farkas, 27-14, while Brin, the most senior at 28, whipped another Hungarian, Robert Maczik, 16-10, assuring the Philippines of at least five bronze medals in the three-day tournament among 12 nations.

The two early semifinalists were flyweight Violito Payla and lightweight Anthony Igusquiza, who drew byes in the quarterfinals.

The bronze could turn into silver or gold which the Filipinos hoped to deliver heading into Saturday’s semifinals and Sunday’s finals.

The only blow to the Philippine campaign, bankrolled by Caltex Philippines and supported by the Philippine Sports Commission, Pacific Heights and Revicon, was the 11-12 loss of Vincent Palicte to At-Hit Thiangtong of the host country.

Palicte was ahead by two points in the third round when the referee slapped a two-point deduction after Palicte "cushioned" his head against his opponent’s as they grappled and clinched at the ropes.

"Masyadong malupit ang referee (The referee was over-strict). Unang infraction, deduction agad," said boxing chief and delegation head Manny Lopez, who, however, said he would be happy if four would make it to the finals.

"We could have won and made a perfect (six-for-six) performance," he added.

Seated at ringside, Lopez and the rest of the team egged on Palicte to fight more aggressively to recover from the point deduction but they did not realize Palicte’s right wrist had become swollen from an errant cross to the head gear of the Finn.

Palicte first suffered the injury in the Azerbaijian Chowdry Cup barely three weeks back. After the bout, Palicte was writhing in pain, from the fingers to the upper arm, and had to be given pain killers by the medical staff to mask the pain.

Still, Palicte fought on in the fourth round, hitting only with his left, and, in the end, lost by only a point.

"Maganda ang pinakita ng mga bata. They improved a lot after Azerbaijian, and that’s what matters. Mas okay sana pag nanalo lahat, pero hindi dapat sisihin ang bata (Palicte) dahil kahit namaga ang kanyang kamay, lumaban pa siya."