Castro assured of bronze, raps Turk

Light flyweight Godfrey Castro boomed with his right straights to outclass his Turkish rival and barge into the medal bouts of the Ahmet Comert International Boxing Championships in Istanbul, Turkey.

The 20-year-old Castro pummeled Samil of Turkey with sharp combinations right from the start of their light flyweight quarterfinals bout to score a 17-9 rout in a lopsided bout and give Team Philippines an automatic bronze medal.

Castro goes for the semifinals on Tuesday when he faces a fighter from Kazakhstan.

In a long distance report to ABAP president Manny Lopez, Team Philippines was given explicit instructions to go all out in fighting against the Turks as other participating team officials have been complaining of biased officiating favoring the host.

The victory gave Team Philippines two chances for a medal as earlier, light welterweight Mark Jason Melligen advanced to the quarterfinals with a 22-10 victory over Hammed of Israel in this world-ranking event which attracted 181 men’s boxers and 127 women pugilists from 23 nations.

Melligen goes for a semifinals berth and an automatic bronze medal on Tuesday when he fights Turkey’s Sipal in the quarterfinals.

Four other Team Philippines members — bantamweight Joan Tipon, lightweight Genebert Basadre, flyweight Warlito Parrenas and welterweight Reynaldo Galido — bowed out of contention, losing to the hosts who fielded in five teams.

The participation of the team in this tournament was made possible by Ginebra San Miguel, the First Gentleman Foundation and Pacific Heights.

It is a part of the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (ABAP) eliminations for the composition of the RP team which will see action in the Manila Southeast Asian Games.