Golez strikes gold for Team RP; Tanamor takes silver

PYONGYANG, North Korea–Middleweight Maraon Golez gave the Philippines its lone gold medal with a decisive win over his Korean rival at the close of the Pyongyang International boxing invitational tournament, the first international boxing event held at the North Korean city.

Golez, a 21-year-old prized find from Cebu and an Army man, claimed the breakthrough win for the Team Caltex Philippines, as he showed spunk and skill over outclassed Korean Kim Sun Kil to post a 12-6 decision over four rounds.

"Talagang pinagsikapan ko. Medyo dehado tayo sa judges kaya sa umpisa pa lang inupakan ko na ng husto," said Golez who fashioned out the only abbreviated contest in the meet when he stopped Korean No. 2 O Yong Su in the semifinals.

Golez’s win erased the stigma of a bitter loss suffered by teammate light flyweight Harry Tanamor to the host team’s No. 1 Kim Chol Ban after he failed to warm up for the fight due to the late arrival of the team shuttle bus.

The bus arrived with only two minutes to go before the Filipino’s final bout, giving Tanamor little time to sweat it out and prime up for the fight.

The result was disastrous as Tanamor used the first two rounds as his warm-up and by the time he got his game going in the third round, the Korean was unassailably ahead, 11-5. Tanamor rallied but the best he could do was trim the deficit to 15-18 at the end of the fight to settle for the silver medal.

"I hope you have learned new lessons in your Korean stint," said Lopez in an overseas telephone call which he finally made after days of trying to contact the RP squad. "I am proud of the boys who will all go home with medals. But you must not stop there, we still have mountains to climb, big obstacles to hurdle in our coming Asian Games campaign."

Aside from Golez’s gold and Tanamor’s silver, the team, headed by Felix "Boogie" Apostadero and which include coaches George Caliwan, Boy Velasco and Pat Gaspi and referee/judge Dante de Castro, will go home with five bronze medals courtesy of flyweight Violito Payla, bantamweight Ferdie Gamo, featherweight Roel Laguna, lightweight Anthony Igusquiza and light middleweight Christopher Camat.

Igusquiza, who bowed out of the semifinals after a headbutt opened up a deep cut in his left eyebrow while leading, 5-1, in the second round, was adjudged one of the four best technical boxers in this four-nation, six-team tourney which saw the participation of the Busan-bound squads from India and China.

Team Caltex RP was supported by the Philippine Sports Commission, Pacific Heights and Revicon.