Was Tañamor mishandled?

Two-time Olympian Roberto Jalnaiz said the other day Harry Tañamor, the country’s only boxing qualifier in Beijing, was not in peak condition when he lost a 6-2 decision to unheralded Ghanaian Mangyo Plange at the recent Summer Games.

“He was pale and lacked power,” said Jalnaiz who fell a win shy of claiming a bronze medal as a bantamweight at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. “It looked like he had difficulty making the weight.”

Dehydration was the likely cause of Tañamor’s poor showing. As the only boxer in the Philippines’ contingent of 15 athletes, he flew to Beijing without a sparring partner and waited nine days before plunging into action. The long period of inactivity and the temptation of gorging at the Olympic Village mess hall where food was free of charge conspired to blunt Tañamor’s competitive edge.

Jalnaiz also questioned the wisdom of Tañamor staying in the lightflyweight division where he made his Olympic debut in Athens four years ago. 

“I was 18 when I fought in Seoul as a flyweight in 1988,” said Jalnaiz. “Then, I moved to bantamweight in Barcelona four years later when I was 21. It’s hard to stay in Tañamor’s division for two Olympics because your body matures as you get older.”

Tañamor was 27 when he fought in Athens and 31 in Beijing. Despite the natural evolution of his physique, he fought as a lightflyweight (limit of 106 pounds) in both Olympics.

“When I was 24, I decided to retire,” said Jalnaiz.  “I had gotten too big.”

In 2001, Jalnaiz was 31 when he went to the US for two months. He tried his luck as a pro and took out a license as a lightweight in Colorado to face hometowner Anthony Mora in a four-rounder at Plachy Hall in Alamosa. Jalnaiz outweighed the unbeaten Mora by five pounds. Just looking for a payday, he walked into a left uppercut and was counted out by referee Curtis Thrasher in the first round. Jalnaiz never fought again.

Now, Jalnaiz keeps busy training kids in Cagayan de Oro. Misamis Oriental Gov. Oscar Moreno recruited Jalnaiz to take care of the provincial amateur boxing program. Jalnaiz has a pool of 20 simonpures whose ages range from 12 to 18. His program is independent of the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (ABAP) which chooses the fighters for the national team.

Moreno said Jalnaiz’ program covers skills development, conditioning and mental toughening.

Jalnaiz said in the Olympics, it’s essential to be in top physical and mental condition because of the pressure to win. To bag the gold medal, a boxer has to win five straight fights. There is no repechage, meaning a loss before the semifinals knocks a fighter out of medal contention outright. The semifinal losers are given a bronze each as a consolation for winning three in a row.

In 1988, Jalnaiz was beaten by Hungary’s J. Varadi in his first Olympic fight as a flyweight in Seoul. Four years later, he was back in the Olympics as a bantamweight and came close to making it to the semifinals. Jalnaiz knocked out Agustin Castillo of the Dominican Republic at 2:46 of the first round in his initial outing then disposed of France’s Philippe Wartelle at 0:32 of the second in his next bout. In the quarterfinals, he was stopped by Cuba’s Joel Casamayor in the first round.  Casamayor later defected to the US and turned pro.

At the 2004 Athens Olympics, the American lightflyweight qualifier was Rau’shee Warren. This year, he was in Beijing as a flyweight and lost to Lee Ok Sung of Korea in his first fight. Warren was the first two-time US Olympic boxer since Davey Joe Armstrong in 1972-76. Armstrong was a lightflyweight in 1972 and a featherweight in 1976.

There are exceptions to the rule of moving up in weight class on an Olympic repeat. China’s Zuo Shiming claimed a bronze medal as a lightflyweight in Athens and won the gold in Beijing, also as a lightflyweight. Spain’s Rafael Lozano campaigned in three Olympics as a lightflyweight.

It was also reported that in the ABAP training camp in Baguio, Tañamor was made to run in the rain and take public transportation to and from Manila.

“We only had one boxing qualifier in Beijing and this was how he was treated,” rued a source from a company that sponsors sports programs. “You would think that since we only had one boxer, he would be cared for. Besides, he was a legitimate medal contender.”

A month before the Olympics, Tañamor was supposed to warm up at the Chemistry Cup in Halle, Germany. Alas, he failed to leave because his visa couldn’t be issued on time. Surely, that was no fault of Tañamor’s.

Another source said Tañamor’s physical conditioning was not addressed by his coaching staff made up of Cuban Enrique Steyners and veteran Pat Gaspi. He was ready to execute a fight plan in the ring but had little strength and stamina to get the job done. Plange, who didn’t advance beyond the second round of eliminations, clearly beat Tañamor.

Plange said he won because he knew Tañamor’s style and the Filipino didn’t know his, insinuating he wasn’t scouted. But that wasn’t the reason for Tañamor’s shock exit. Tañamor just wasn’t physically and mentally in shape to win.