Wanted: Female boxers

PUERTO PRINCESA – Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (ABAP) executive director Ed Picson said yesterday there’s a dearth of warm bodies to fill up vacancies in the national women’s team for the Olympic categories of lightweight (56-60 kilograms) and middleweight (69-75 kilograms).

It’s no problem finding fighters in the Olympic flyweight (48-51 kilograms) class, added Picson. But with the retirement of two-time World Championships bronze medalist and natural lightweight Michel Martinez, Picson said the vacuum is glaring. Women’s boxing will make its debut at the Asian Games in Guangzhou this year and the 2012 London Olympics with only the flyweight, lightweight and middleweight divisions.

Picson said Martinez, 33, will join the ABAP coaching pool. Martinez took a bronze at the recent Laos Southeast Asian Games and will be 36, two years over the limit, when the London Olympics reel off in 2012.

“Michel will be a positive influence on our female boxers because of her discipline,” said Picson. “We are recommending her to the Philippine Sports Commission as a national coach to become the only female boxing coach assisting Boy Catolico and Roel Velasco for our women’s team.”

At the ongoing National Youth Championships here, 17 female entries were initially listed – 10 in the juniors (15-16) division and seven in the youth (17-18). In the juniors, four fighters were in the 46-kilogram pinweight class, four in the 48-kilogram lightflyweight and two in the 50-kilogram flyweight. In the youth, three fighters were in the 48-kilogram flyweight class and four in the 51-kilogram bantamweight.

But when the tournament got underway last Monday, the numbers dwindled. Bacolod City’s Reynalyn Jacob, 17, found herself without an opponent in the youth bantamweight category.  

The classifications in the male division are 56 entries in six weight categories from 26-kilogram kiddieweight to 36-kilogram powderweight in the kids 11-12 age group, 52 in eight weight categories from 38-kilogram lightmosquito to 54-kilogram flyweight in the schoolboys 13-14 age group, 40 in six weight categories from 46-kilogram pinweight to 57-kilogram featherweight in the juniors 15-16 age group and 53 in seven weight categories from 45-kilogram pinweight to 64-kilogram lightwelterweight in the youth 17-18 age group.

All fights in the age groups are three-rounders. In kids, each round is a minute long. The limit is 1 1/2 minutes in schoolboys, two minutes in juniors and three minutes in youth.

At the end of the first-day action, Puerto Princesa Mayor Edward Hagedorn hosted a dinner for over 300 fighters, coaches, officials and guests at the Asturias Hotel. Hagedorn said his vision is to make Puerto Princesa the country’s sports capital.

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A former jun-golfer, Baguio City Mayor Peter Ray Bautista said he is essentially a sports buff who watches basketball, football, boxing, baseball and tennis, among others, with a passion on TV. His oldest child, a 13-year-old boy, is a swimming prospect at the Trace Aquatics Center in Los Baños. He has two other children, both girls, nine and 10. Last year, Bautista took his staff to freezing temperatures in mountain climbs in Nepal and South Korea as a form of team-building.

Bautista, 40, is in town to cheer for the four boys and two girls flying the Baguio City colors in the National Youth Championships.

With the dream of transforming Baguio into the national training center, Bautista said he is opening the city gates to sporting events to encourage athletes to test the local facilities. In April, for instance, Baguio will host the 100-kilometer North Face marathon where the finish line is in the country’s third highest peak Mount Pulag with an elevation of 2,922 meters. The highest Philippine peak is Mount Apo at 2,956 meters and Mount Dulang-Dulang in Bukidnon at 2,938. Mount Pulag is in Benguet province.

Bautista said on Valentine’s Day last year, he set up a stage on Lake Burnham for a free-to-the-public showing of “Phantom of the Opera” by Repertory Philippines and this year, it will be “Camelot.” It’s his way of celebrating the year’s most romantic day.

In Puerto Princesa, Mayor Edward Hagedorn has his own version of celebrating Valentine’s Day. He organizes a mass wedding for unwed couples on condition the grooms and brides, in their marriage outfits, plant mangroves immediately after the ceremony. Last year, 250 couples showed up for Hagedorn’s celebration, which was glowingly featured on CNN.

Hagedorn said the idea of planting mangroves is to instil in the public consciousness the importance of protecting the environment. He said protecting the environment is like protecting life itself.

For the month of February, Bautista said Baguio will hold the flower festival which is now recognized as the country’s No. 1 festival. The celebration will culminate in a flower parade on Feb. 27 and a float parade the next day. And in early March, Bautista said he will close Session Road for a week-long street party.

As for the coming elections, Bautista said he’s up against nine contenders in the congressional race. “I’m not campaigning,” he went on. “The people know me. They know what they can expect from me if I’m in congress. It’s up to them. If they want me in congress, they know I’ll serve to the best of my ability. If not, I can always go back to the private sector, teach at the university and spend more time with my wife and children.”