Chowdry finally neutralized?

Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (ABAP) president Manny Lopez is optimistic that politics won’t interfere in determining the medalists in the sweet science at the Athens Olympics starting Friday.

Since 1986, Anwar Chowdry of Pakistan has ruled the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) as a virtual lifetime president with an iron fist. It’s no secret that Chowdry influences the decisions of fights in AIBA-sanctioned competitions such as the World Championships, the Asian Games and the Olympics. That’s because he personally chooses the referee and judges who work the bouts. Chowdry lords it over the sport like a king whose minions pay slavish homage.

The Philippines’ disenchantment with Chowdry began when Onyok Velasco was robbed of a gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. At the Mayor’s Cup in Bacolod two years later, Chowdry received a hostile welcome as he was denounced by the local press as a corrupt tyrant and reacted by vowing to stamp out Filipino domination in Asian boxing. That same year, the Philippines supported Chijnese-Taipei candidate Dr. Ching Kuo Wu’s bid to unseat Chowdry at the AIBA Congress in Turkey.

It’s no coincidence that since Chowdry’s declaration of war against the Philippines, no Filipino boxer has won a gold at the Asian Games. And the country’s four boxers were wiped out at the Sydney Olympics.

But Lopez, who is now in Athens, says Chowdry has finally been neutralized.

Apparently, the Philippines is back in Chowdry’s good graces. As the Asian Amateur Boxing Federation secretary general, Lopez booked a seat in the powerful Athens jury committee. He probably wouldn’t have been voted as secretary general if Chowdry didn’t approve his election. As a bonus, Chowdry allowed a Filipino — Arturo Vidal — to join the hand-picked pool of 34 referees and judges.

Vidal, 41, is only the fourth Filipino referee and judge to be assigned to the Olympics after Alex Villacampa in 1972, Romy Somodio in 1984-88 and Rene Fortaleza in 1992.

Lopez says his father Mel and he are splitting chores in Athens. Lopez will rub elbows with Chowdry and his "Mafia" as a jury official while his father, a former Manila Mayor and Philippine Sports Commission chairman, will attend to the fighters’ day-to-day preparations.

Lopez isn’t guaranteeing a medal but says the country’s four-man boxing team is "dead set" in bagging a gold. Vying for honors are lightflyweight Harry Tañamor, flyweight Violito Payla, lightwelterweight Romeo Brin and middleweight Chris Camat.

"We could make history in Athens," says Lopez. "The morale is high and the boys are in good spirits. They’re prepared mentally and physically to win. In Barcelona, we left home 2 1/2 months before the Olympics to get ready. In Atlanta, it was six months. And in Sydney, we were away three months. For Athens, it will only be 45 to 50 days–enough time for us to get in shape physically and mentally. We noticed when we’re away too long, we get mind-weary."

With 28 fighters in each weight category, it will take five wins to capture an Olympic gold without a bye and four with a bye. Three wins will assure at least a bronze without a bye and two, with a bye.

The team’s final pre-Olympic tournament was in the Czech Republic last June. The four Filipinos were joined by bantamweight alternate Joan Tipon in the 12-nation meet involving 71 fighters. Tañamor lost to Cuban hotshot Yan Bartelemy Varela, 24-17, in the lightflyweight semis. Payla outpointed Czech Frantisek Faber, 30-13, in the quarters then lost a 30-12 verdict to Russian Alexander Afanasiev in the semis. Tipon decisioned Joel Brunker of Australia, 25-13, in the quarters but lost a 28-3 decision to Cuban Guillermo Rigondeaux in the semis. In quarters matches, Czech Martin Svoboda disposed of Brin, 28-20, and Hungarian Jozsef Acz trounced Camat, 29-9.

In a pre-Olympic issue, Sports Illustrated picked Bartelemy to claim the lightflyweight silver and Rigondeaux, the bantamweight gold. The magazine chose Tañamor to pocket the lightflyweight bronze.

After the Czech tournament, the Filipino fighters trained at the Plovdiv boxing camp in Bulgaria, 200 kilometers from Sofia. Thai and Nigerian fighters also worked out at the camp.

Then, the squad–accompanied by coaches Greg Caliwan, Boy Velasco and Pat Gaspi–trained at another boot camp in Bugeat, France, 500 kilometers northeast of Paris. The Philippines was invited to the Correze provincial town with 12 other countries including Cuba, England, Australia and Poland. Thailand and Korea asked to train at the camp but were rejected.

Lopez says the three factors that could make the difference between winning and losing are good physical preparation, experience and the luck of the draw.

"It’s all about adapting to the amateur style so the judges can easily spot your punches and press the buttons on their computer consoles," continues Lopez. "Our boys will try to bring the fight to the neutral corners where the judges get a clearer view of what’s happening. We’ll be headhunters because blows to the body are often ignored. We’ll throw more straights instead of hooks and crosses. We’ll focus on volume of punches instead of power. We’ll go for visibility, never mind if we don’t hurt our opponents. The idea is to fight upright so the judges can see what you’re doing."

There were three qualifying competitions to pick 62 fighters from Asia. Brin, Payla and Camat made it at the first qualifiers in Puerto Princesa last January. Tañamor joined the team after taking the silver medal at the third qualifiers in Karachi last May.

Brin, 31, is shooting for his first Olympic victory after early exits in Atlanta and Sydney. Camat, 24, was born in San Manuel, Pangasinan, and migrated to the US in 1989. He lost an 18-11 decision to Kashif Manitaz of Pakistan in his only fight at the Busan Asian Games. Payla, 25, collected golds at the Chowdry Cup in Azerbaijan, Tammer Cup in Finland and Acropolis Cup in Greece two years ago. He trounced Korean Kim Ki Suk, 25-18, at the finals of the qualifiers in Puerto Princesa. The same Kim decisioned Tañamor for the lightflyweight gold at the last Asian Games.

Tañamor, who turns 27 next week, is the country’s brightest hope for a medal in Athens. But the lightflyweight cast is formidable with Bartelemy, Sergei Kazakov of Russia and Zuo Shiming of China looming as gold contenders.