Pinoy fighters seek to better Doha finish

MANILA, Philippines - After their successful stint at the 31st Tammer Cup in Finland, the Philippine boxing team looks ahead to trying to match, if not surpass, its previous Asian Games performance when it fights in the 16th Asiad in Guangzhou, China next month.

“Our target in the Guangzhou Asian Games is to better our two-gold and two-bronze medal collection in the last Doha Asian Games,” Ronald Chavez, a member of the coaching staff, said in Filipino yesterday during the SCOOP sa Kamayan sports forum.

The Filipino pugs delivered half of the delegation’s four-gold output in Doha, courtesy of flyweight Violito Payla and bantamweight Joan Tipon, as well as bronze medal efforts by lightflyweight Godfrey Castro and lightweight Genebert Basadre.

Tasked to improve on this achievement this time are brothers Victorio (lighflyweight) and Rey Saludar (flyweight), Charlie Suarez (featherweight), Delfin Boholst (light-welterweight) and Wilfredo Lopez (welterweight) in the men’s side and 2008 world championship silver medalist Annie Albania in the distaff side.

The Saludar brothers brought home a gold medal each while Suarez and Boholst captured a bronze from the Tammer Cup, the pugs’ final tune-up for the Nov. 12-27 Asiad.

Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (ABAP) executive director Ed Picson said the six-member crew has prepared long and hard for the competition, going to China and the US for training and getting exposure to Euro-style boxing.

“Unlike in professional boxing where you already know your opponent, we won’t really know who our boxers will fight in the Asian Games, not until the draw and competition proper. All we can do is to prepare our boxers and all I can say is we will be ready to fight it out against the best in the region. We are as prepared as we can be,” Picson said.

Boxing officials said entries from host China, Mongolia, Kazakshtan, Uzbekistan and some of the former Soviet Republics are likely to pose the biggest threats to RP’s bid. The Philippines’ longtime SEAG nemesis Thailand, however, will not be around due to the suspension slapped by the International Boxing Association on the country.

“We’ll give it our best shot and pour it all in Guangzhou in order to get the coveted gold medal in the Asian Games,” Suarez said in Filipino.