Tanamor, Brin post commanding wins

BUSAN — Lightfly Harry Tanamor and lightwelter Romeo Brin turned on the ignition for Team Caltex Wednesday by whipping their respective opponents at the start of the boxing competitions in the 14th Asian Games here.

The two Filipino fighters landed the clearer punches with Tanamor posting a 25-7 victory over Myanmar’s Kyaw Swar Aung and Brin escaping with a 20-16 win over Mongolia’s Bayanmunkh Bayanjargal at the Masan Gymnasium, more than an hour of bus ride away from the athletes’ village.

"Our boxers came here to fight and that’s what they showed today," said RP amateur boxing chief Manny Lopez after the two victories that will give the six other members of Team Caltex something to emulate in the coming days.

Lopez, who opted to stay in a hotel just five minutes away from the boxing venue, was more impressed with Tanamor although the Armyman from Zamboanga appeared over-confident at some points of the match.

"Masyadong nag-kumpiyansa si Harry dahil alam niya sigurong kayang kaya niya," said Lopez of one of the country’s brightest hopes in boxing where we failed to land any gold medal four years ago in Bangkok.

It was an entirely different case with Brin who fought a close match with the Mongolian slugger.

"Muntik na tayo kay Brin. It was very close and until the end, they were toe to toe.

But the better experienced prevailed," Lopez added.

Tanamor, in his first Asian Games, will face a tougher opponent in China’s Zoi Shiming Friday while Brin, in his last Asian Games, will next see action on Tuesday against a boxer from either Japan or Pakistan.

Bantamweight Ferdie Gamo will climb the ring Thursday against the winner of the fight pitting Wahbeh Abdullah of Syria and Khidirov Bekzod of Uzbekistan. The other members of the team who will fight in the coming days are flyweight Violito Payla, featherweight Roel Laguna, lightweight Anthony Igusquiza, lightmiddle Chris Camat and middleweight Maaron Goles.