Tanamor duels South Korean for gold

BUSAN – Die for the gold.

Expect Armyman Harry Tanamor to do just that when he meets South Korean boxer Kim Ki Suk for the lightflyweight gold in the 14th Asian Games here Sunday.

"Suicide si Harry bukas," said coach Nolito Velasco after the 24-year-old Tanamor, the only one standing in the eight-man Team Caltex, beat 1998 Asian Games gold medalist Suban Pannon of Thailand, 35-26, Saturday afternoon at the Masan Gymnasium.

It was the fourth victory by Tanamor, who’s in his first stint in the Asian Games, and with it came an automatic silver in the 48 kg class once dominated by Filipino Mansueto "Onyok" Velasco.

"Meron pang trabaho so we must remain focused. But it was a Herculean effort on the part of Harry to beat the defending champion. We now move on to our next target which is the gold," said Manny Lopez, the amateur boxing president back home.

Kim made it to the finals when he stopped Tajikistan’s Mekhrodj Umarov, 20-5 RSC, in the first of 14 bouts lined up for the day. He’ll surely be a tougher nut to crack in the finals.

Against Suban, also 24 but ranked as the No. 2 lightfly in the world, Tanamor was at his best despite twisting his left ankle midway through the opening round after he accidentally stepped on the foot of Korean referee Yang Ki.

Tanamor went down on the canvas and grimaced in pain while looking at coaches Gregorio Caliwan and Patricio Gaspi. At first, he looked like he couldn’t continue but must have summoned all his strength to get up and go on.

"Kaya hindi siya bibilangan ng referee dahil nga siya ang naapakan ni Harry. Otherwise, our boxer could have been counted out and lost due to injury," Lopez explained.

Tanamor, connecting heavily to the body, was up, 7-3, when the incident happened but managed to hold on to take a 9-5 lead into the second round where he did better, racing to a 16-8 lead.

Getting desperate, Pannon tried every dirty trick in the department, wrestling the Filipino down on the floor six times and was penalized two points twice. In the fourth and final round, he jolted Tanamor with a couple of left straights to the face but just couldn’t turn the tide to his favor.

Tanamor was himself penalized two points with 1:18 left in the fourth round due to a head butt which looked so accidental.

"Masyadong magulang," said Tanamor after posting the first victory by an RP boxer over a Thai since the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games.

"Being the only boxer from the Philippines left, I really wanted to win this bout," said Tanamor. "I just listened to my coaches and tried to fight in and out."

In the final bout of the day, Pakistan’s Ali Shoukat defeated Syria’s Naser Alshami in the heavyweight 91-kilogram class. The bout was called by the referee 1:11 into the third round with Shoukat leading 26-11.

Alshami left the ring in tears as the crowd booed the decision.

International Amateur Boxing Association president Anwar Chowdhry, who is from Pakistan, defended the decision to stop the fight.

"The rules clearly state that when there is a 15-point difference during the round the bout is to be called," said Chowdhry. "We introduced this to save the boxer and that boy was being beaten like a punching bag."

Shoukat will face Uzbekistan’s Sergey Mihayilov in Sunday’s final. Mihayilov knocked South Korea’s Lee Hyun-sung down early and the referee called the bout with 38 seconds remaining in the first round.

In other semis, South Korea’s Kim Won-ii cruised to a 17-7 win over Abdusalom Khasanov of Tajikistan and will meet Uzbekistan’s Bekzod Khidirov in the bantamweight 54-kilogram final.

Khidirov stopped Kyrgistan’s Talaibek Kadyraliev 1:08 into the third round.

Uzbekistan’s Utkirbek’s Haydarov outscored Kazakstan’s Baurzhan Kairmenov, 36-18, in the 75-kilogram middleweight class.

"That’s the fourth time I’ve beaten him," said Haydarov. "I didn’t take any hard hits and I’m feeling confident about the final."

Pakistan’s Ahmad Ali Khan stopped South Korean Moon Young-Seang 10 seconds into the third round of the other 75-kilogram semifinal.