Tipon girds for duel with Thai champion

BANGKOK – Joan Tipon, now the Philippines’ best bet for an Olympic berth following the ouster of Violito Payla, takes on Mukamamad Ali today, confident of getting past the Pakistani bet for a possible duel with Thai Worapoj Petchkoom in the first AIBA Asian Boxing Olympic Qualifying tournament here.

Tipon, 25, hopes to use his showdown with Ali as a springboard to a keenly awaited rematch with Petchkoom, the RP fighter’s biggest stumbling block to a dream stint in the Beijing Olympic Games this August.

Having drawn the Thai ace in the lower half of the bantamweight division, Tipon is tipped to meet Petchkoom in the semifinal round of the 54-kg class where he is expected to have his hands full following a recent loss to the former Olympic silver medallist in the last World Championships in Chicago.

But Tipon said he had improved a lot and is looking forward to meeting Petchkoom, whom he outpointed in a tightly fought duel to capture the gold medal in the 2006 Asian Games in Doha.

“I am better conditioned now compared to the last time we met. I would say I improved by around 40 percent. But I know Petchkoom is also in top form,” said Tipon in Filipino.

The Talisay, Negros Occidental native drew a first round bye then smothered Jordan’s Ebraheem Algharageer, 13-2, to advance to the quarterfinals Saturday.

But against Ali, Tipon is facing a hulking, aggressive fighter who pummeled Indonesian Sayiel Lasa, 23-7. But coach Pat Gaspi is confident of his ward’s chances and is actually bracing for a Tipon faceoff with Petchkoom.

“He’ll get past Ali but we’ll have to be ready against Petchkoom,” said Gaspi.

The Thai bet also launched his bid with an impressive 22-7 thrashing of Han Soon-chul, neutralizing the Korean’s height and reach advantage with world-class fighting style to the delight of the boisterous crowd at the Dhurakij Punjit University.

Unlike Tipon, Petchkoom drew a tougher quarterfinal opponent in Uzbek Holmuratov Ulugbek, who whipped Sri Lanka’s MDK Wanniarchchi, 27-9, in the other bantam encounter.

Payla, an Asian Games gold medallist like Tipon, was ousted in the first round by Tajikistan’s Yunusov Anvar, who completed a stunning RSC-O win over the veteran internationalist.

Despite Payla’s shock loss, Gaspi said the Cagayan de Oro native will remain in the RP-PLDT Smart boxing team and will see action in the last Asian qualifying in Kazakhstan in April.  – Dante Navarro