ABAP to train new fighters for SEAG

The Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines is retiring some of its old boxers and will train new ones for the 2009 Laos Southeast Asian Games this December.

“We’re beginning a new journey now towards that quest of winning the Olympic gold medal and in that journey there would be a lot of experiments and a lot of looking for new talents,” said ABAP president Ricky Vargas in yesterday’s SCOOP sa Kamayan Padre Faura.

Vargas, who was accompanied by secretary-general Patrick Gregorio and newly appointed executive director Ed Picson, explained the need to draw talented young boxers to the team.

“We met recently with the local and Cuban coaches and we talked about the national pool. One of the things we said there, ‘I don’t like the same old faces, the same boxers. I want us to show new faces in boxing and have boxers that have the potential,” Vargas explained.

“It’s a pity for these talented new boxers if we don’t discover them. If we don’t train and let them fight, tomorrow he’s no longer a potential. Worst of all, he probably in his youth has moved into professional boxing.

“We were talking to very strong, young boxers, some of them we’re convincing not to turn professional,” he added.

Picson said some veteran national team members that have already retired include 2006 Doha Asian Games gold medalist Violito Payla while some have turned to coaching.

“We have many boxers that have retired already, one of them is Violito Payla. Reynaldo Galido is also retired and is now a coach,” he said.

As much as ABAP wants to inject new faces immediately, there are some old ones that would be retained.

“We will look into all talents. There are boxers that are ready to compete in the SEA Games, these are our more experienced boxers. We would mix this with some of our less experienced fighters,” Vargas said.

Light flyweight Harry Tañamor, a Beijing Olympics veteran, is one of the few remaining veterans who probably could easily get a spot in Laos after topping the prestigious World Cup late last year in Moscow, Russia.

Gregorio said they would hold a regional tournament to reinforce ABAP’s quest for fresh talents.

“We’re having these regional tournaments in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao and possibly in Southern Tagalog mainly to give young boxers a venue to showcase their true worth,” said Gregorio.