Boxing's gold worth P3M to Filipino pug

GUANGZHOU – Filipino fighter Rey Saludar, showing tremendous guts and great ring craftsmanship, overcame a tough hometown foe to deliver a precious gold medal for Team Philippines in the 16th Asian Games boxing competitions at the Foshan Gymnasium here last night.

Saludar’s victory underscored the aggressive recruitment and training program of the Amateur Boxing Association of the Phils. and came as the most expensive among the medals won by the Filipinos with an incentive package worth P3 million.

Saludar, 22, put up an impressive performance in the biggest fight of his career, holding off the hosts’ Chang Yong, 13-11, for the top podium finish in the men’s 52kg class.

The PLDT Phl Team Boxing missed what could have been a golden double as Annie Albania lost a close final bout with reigning world champion Cancan Ren, also of China, in the women’s 48-51kg class.

Ren was the more aggressive and prevailed, 7-5.

“Annie could have gotten it had she been a little more aggressive. It was a close fight all throughout,” said Philippine boxing secretary general Patrick Gregorio.

The six-strong Phl boxing team had a productive showing, winding up with a gold, a silver and a bronze medal courtesy of Victorio Saludar in the men’s 48kg.

Under the incentive scheme of Smart-PLDT for the Filipino boxers, Rey Saludar is set to get P3 million for his gold medal feat, Albania P1 million for the silver and Victorio Saludar P.5 million for the bronze.

“It’s a good achievement for our young program with an end goal of hopefully winning a gold medal in the 2012 London Olympics,” said Gregorio.

“We’re hopeful that our performance here also provides us momentum which we can ride on as we aim to win the overall championship in next year’s Southeast Asian Games,” Gregorio added.

Rey Saludar gave Phl team boxing a glorious moment as he humbled Chang in front of a stunned Chinese crowd.

Down by a point, after the opening round, Saludar ferociously attacked the Chinese in the next two rounds and built a commanding 10-5 going into the final canto.

Chang tried to mount a rally but Saludar bravely stood his ground, fending off the Chinese to complete a Cinderella ride in the Guangzhou Games.

A prized find by the ABAP in its grassroots program, Saludar got a shot at the gold medal after disposing of Bhutan’s Kinley Gyeltshen, Nepal’s Puran Rai and Japan’s Katsuaki Susa in the earlier rounds.