There’s no stopping slugfest in Palawan

Postponed a number of times, the National Open Boxing Championships in Puerto Princesa, Palawan will finally be staged two weeks from now.

Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (ABAP) president Manny Lopez made the assurance in yesterday’s PSA Forum at the Manila Pavilion Hotel, adding no way will the weeklong meet, set May 26-31, be put off again for a later date.

"Wala na itong atrasan," said Lopez in the weekly public sports program sponsored by Agfa Colors, Red Bull and Pagcor, where he shared the limelight with Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) commissioner Noli Eala.

The Holy Week break and the conflict with the Palarong Pambansa schedule forced ABAP and the host province led by Palawan Gov. Joel Reyes to reschedule the tournament twice.

Now Lopez said it’s all systems go, with two provinces, including Cavite, already in Palawan by now.

"A lot of factors compelled us to postpone the Open. Pero ngayon tuloy-tuloy na," he said.

All regions will be represented in the meet open for both men and women 16-23 years old. A total of 12 weight categories are to be disputed, from 45 kgs (pinweight) to 75 kgs (middleweight) for men and 46 kgs (pinweight) to 63 kgs. (welterweight) for women.

Being the host province, two out of the 22 teams competing are from Palawan.

Lopez said they expect to discover new talents in this year’s Open for inclusion into the national pool, although they’ll not likely be lined up for the men’s team set to participate in the Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam this December and the three Olympic qualifying tournaments slated for next year.