Lightweight Genebert Basadre, featherweight Orlando Tacuyan and Fil-Am lightwelterweight Adam Bigornia Fiel are expected to join Asian Games gold medalists Violito Payla and Joan Tipon in the RP Smart team vying for Olympic berths in the First Asian Qualifying in Thailand next week.
The Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (ABAP) will announce the composition of the team today in time for the new deadline for submission of entries set by the International Boxing Association (AIBA) for those federations which failed to meet the December deadline.
“Barring any hitches, Basadre, Tacuyan and Fiel are tipped to make it to the team,” said boxing chief Manny Lopez, adding that the final day of sparring among national team aspirants will be held today.
The lineup will be later forwarded to the Thai organizers, who had earlier announced the disqualification of the RP fighters for the ABAP’s failure to submit its entry on time.
But the AIBA, in a latest communiqué with all AIBA-member federations, said it has extended the final entry deadline from Dec. 21, 2007 to Jan. 16, 2008 “so as to avoid wasting the boxers efforts to be in the Olympic Games.”
“This decision was from the AIBA president to accept the various unavoidable situations of some federations who were not able to send their final entry in time,” said Ho Kim, AIBA executive director.
The Bangkok qualifier is slated Jan. 24-Feb. 3.
The Philippines is eyeing two berths in the Olympic Games slated in August in Beijing, China with Harry Tañamor emerging the lone Filipino qualifier so far with a silver medal finish in last year’s World Championships in Chicago.
Lopez said his target is to qualify two fighters in Bangkok and two more in Almaty, Kazakhstan in April to send a team of five to Beijing. The Philippines qualified four fighters in Sydney in 2000 and four in Athens four years ago.
ABAP will also tap a top-caliber Cuban boxing coach to train the RP fighters for the Olympics.
In fact, PSC chair Butch Ramirez and boxing patron Manny V. Pangilinan are scheduled to fly to Cuba after the Bangkok meet to confer with Cuban Ambassador Jorge Rey Jimenez on how to facilitate the recruitment of a Cuban coach.