"We are now setting our eyes on the Beijing Olympics," said Lopez after flyweight Violito Payla ended Somjit Jongjohor’s domination with an emphatic 31-15 victory in the final of the 51kg division Tuesday.
With Joan Tipon set to fight for the bantam gold against Korean Han Soon Chul at presstime and Godfrey Castro and Genebert Basadre bagging a bronze each, RP boxing indeed marked its resurgence in top level competitions after getting shut out of the gold medal podium since the troika of Mansueto Velasco Jr., Elias Recaido Jr. and Reynaldo Galido captured three golds in the 1994 Hiroshima Asiad.
"We’re on the right track and from here, we will move on for the heavier battles like the Olympics," said Lopez, dead serious in winning the country’s first ever Olympic gold medal through ABAP’s (Amateur Boxing Association of the Phils.) massive grassroots development program.
Payla’s resounding triumph over his three-time tormentor and former world champion underscored the progress made by the ABAP program through the years with Tipon, who won the Best Boxer award in last year’s Asian Championships in Vietnam, tipped this early as the best bet for the Olympic gold.
"With the help of the coaching staff, we did study Jongjohor’s moves and style that’s why I beat him," said Payla in Filipino, referring to the victory that snapped the country’s gold medal drought in the sport in the Games since 1994.
Lopez said the search for future boxing stars will continue but added that Payla and Tipon plus a couple of others are now a cinch to make it to the Beijing Olympiad.
Although the RP athletes have shown they can be world-beaters in other sports, it is only in boxing where the country has won many medals in the most recent Olympic Games. In Tokyo in 1964, Anthony Villanueva captured the silver medal; in 1988 Leopoldo Serantes bagged the bronze in Seoul; in 1992 Roel Velasco won another bronze in Barcelona, while Roel’s younger brother, Mansueto Velasco Jr., captured the silver in Atlanta in 1996.