RP pugs to vie in world tourney

A crack squad of six Filipino fighters will fly the country’s colors at the World Boxing Championships in Bangkok on July 6-13.

Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (ABAP) president Manny Lopez told The STAR yesterday the team will be made up of lightflyweight Harry Tanamor, flyweight Violito Payla, bantamweight Arlan Lerio, featherweight Florencio Ferrer, lightweight Junard Ladon, and lightwelterweight Anthony Igusquiza.

Gregorio Caliwan and Nolito Velasco will join the team as coaches.

Although the delegation lists six fighters, Lopez said Igusquiza, a 1994 Asian Games bronze medallist as a bantamweight, is not sure to make the trip because of an open wound caused by a boil in his armpit. A decision on Igusquiza’s status will be made today.

The delegation leaves for Bangkok tomorrow.

Lopez said the fighters will depart with visiting Cuban physical education professor Dr. Alcides Sagarra Caron who has been here two weeks to share his boxing expertise with coaches, trainers, educators, referees, judges, officials and fighters through the auspices of the International Olympic Solidarity movement.

Dr. Sagarra, 66, has been on top of the Cuban amateur boxing program since 1964. He personally coached six fighters to 10 Olympic gold medals–Teofilo Stevenson and Felix Savon three each, Armando Martinez, Emilio Correa, Jorge Hernandez, and Joel Casamayor. In all, Dr. Sagarra is credited for 27 of Cuba’s 53 Olympic gold medals ever. The 27 gold medals were from boxing–three each in 1972 and 1976, six in 1980, seven in 1992 and four each in 1996 and 2000.

"For two years, we’ve been trying to get Dr. Sagarra to come to Manila," said Lopez, the secretary-general of the Asian Amateur Boxing Federation. "All the Cuban coaches are under his supervision. Pedro Pacheco and Raul Liranza, who were once our national coaches, fall under him. Also, he supervises Cuban coaches like Juan Fontanills who was responsible for turning Thailand into a world amateur boxing power. Dr. Sagarra is an icon in Cuba because of his success in amateur boxing."

Dr. Sagarra was to complete 10 days of lectures and practical teaching before leaving for Bangkok where he will rendezvous with the Cuban boxing team, now training in Mongolia.

The World Championships will showcase competitions in 11 divisions. Because of the decision to limit the weight categories in Olympic boxing, the lightmiddleweight category has been dissolved, leaving only lightflyweight (48 kg), flyweight (51 kg), bantamweight (54 kg), featherweight (57 kg), lightweight (60 kg), lightwelterweight (64 kg), welterweight (69 kg), middleweight (75 kg), lightheavyweight (81 kg), heavyweight (91 kg), and superheavyweight (above 91 kg).

Lopez said the World Championships will be a testing ground for fighters hoping to qualify for the Athens Olympics next year. There are 62 slots reserved for Asians in the Olympics with three qualifying tournaments scheduled in Manila on Jan. 11-18, Changsa, China on March 18-26, and Karachi, Pakistan, on April 23-28.

Lopez said in the Philippine leg, third placers or bronze medallists in the lightflyweight, flyweight, bantamweight, and featherweight categories will gain tickets to Athens. The losing semifinals in the four classes will box off to determine the third placer. However, the bronze medallists in the China and Pakistan qualifiers will not earn Olympic slots. The Philippine leg is the only exception, a concession negotiated by Lopez.

There will be 24 Olympic qualifiers in the Philippine leg–three each in the lightflyweight, flyweight, bantamweight, and featherweight classes, the finalists in the lightweight, lightwelterweight, welterweight, middleweight, and lightheavyweight divisions, and the gold medallists in the heavyweight and superheavyweight categories.

The China leg will pick 20 qualifiers and the Pakistan leg, 18.

Tanamor, 25, was the only Filipino medallist in boxing at the last Asian Games in Busan. He lost to Kim Ki Suk of South Korea on a 24-19 decision in the finals and settled for the silver.

Payla, 24, took gold medals at the Chowdry Cup in Azerbaijan, Tammer Cup in Finland, and Acropolis Cup in Greece last year. He lost to silver medallist Nouman Karim of Pakistan on a disputed verdict in the second series at the last Asiad.

Lerio, a 1998 Asian Games and 2000 Sydney Olympics veteran, turned down offers to turn pro unlike older brother Danilo and stuck to his goal of hitting paydirt in Athens. Last May, he won the gold and took best boxer honors at the 14-nation Socikas tournament in Lithuania. In the same competition, Tanamor bagged the silver in the lightflyweight division.