Tañamor on a roll, eyes golden finish

CHICAGO, Illinois – Already assured of an Olympic berth, Harry Tañamor now goes for the World Championship gold medal as he stunned American Luis Yanez, 17-7, to advance to the semifinal round at the University of Illinois-Chicago Pavilion here Thursday.

The shocker of a win assured the Filipino fighter of the RP- PLDT-Smart boxing team of the bronze medal in the light-flyweight class. Tañamor also won the bronze medals during the 2001 and 2003 World Championships in Belfast, Ireland and Bangkok, Thailand, respectively.

‘‘This is a night to remember. I’ll never forget this one,’’ said the 29-year-old Tañamor.

He takes on Anmat Ruenroeng of Thailand in the semifinals slated Friday night. Ruenroeng downed Armenian Danielyan Hovhannes, 18-6, in another quarterfinals showdown.

Using his speed and movement, Tañamor dominated the reigning Pan American Games titlist early with the Filipino pug piling up points with body shots to take a commanding 12-5 lead halfway through the bout.

Egged on by the crowd, Yanez tried to pin down Tañamor but the wily Filipino fought out of danger  to preserve the victory.

‘’Harry boxed perfectly. He had the experience and the skills to neutralize Yanez,’’ said head coach Patricio Gaspi.

Despite the loss, Yanez has already joined Tañamor, Ruenroeng,  Hovhannes and four others to the Beijing Olympics. Others who qualified in light-flyweight class are Ukraine’s Georgiy Chygayev, France’s Nordine Oubaali, Ireland’s Patrick Barnes and defending champion Zou Shiming.

Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines Manny Lopez said the victory gave credence to the decision of the association to field Tañamor despite his age.

‘’I, for one, believe that Harry remains deadly as ever. He is in great shape as proven by his victory. The quality of competitions has improved greatly and ABAP is glad of Harry’s achievement,’’ Lopez said.