Barriga hurdles rival in opener

BAKU, Azerbaijan – Mark Anthony Barriga continues to baffle boxing observers who underestimate his boxing prowess because of his height – or more specifically, his lack of it.

The 18-year old spitfire, who stands below 5 feet, opened up the PLDT-ABAP National Team campaign in the World Boxing Championships at the Hayder Aliyev Stadium here with a convincing 12-5 win over Stefan Caslarov of Romania.

The Romanian tried to use one-upmanship against the diminutive Filipino, employing a lot of pushing and shoving tactics to try and frustrate his opponent.

But Barriga stuck to his game plan of firing off swift and crisp combinations and side-stepping moves.

The Panabo, Davao del Norte native led all the way, 6-2 in the first round and 9-3 in the second.

The six-man National Boxing Team had unexpected help in the cheering department as seven Filipinos who work in Baku, five of them women, showed up to give support. They shouted themselves hoarse in cheering Barriga.

On Tuesday, South Cotabato native Rey Saludar, who won the gold medal in last year’s Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, tests the mettle of Canadian Tanjit Lally.

On Wednesday, Joan Tipon faces Alberto Melian of Argentina; and on Thursday it will be Delfin Boholst versus the Netherlands’ Stephen Danyo.

Rolando Tacuyan will have his debut fight on Sept. 30 against Mehdi Toloutibandpi of Iran and the last to see action for the Filipinos will be Charly Suarez on Oct. 1 in his lightweight match against Ecuadorian Luis Porozo.

Barriga’s second bout will be on Oct. 3 against eighth seed Patrick Barnes of Ireland. If he wins the bout, the Filipino will likely meet the iconic Chinese Olympic gold medalist, Zou Shiming, who also won his first fight Monday at the expense of a gritty Juan Medina of Dominican Republic. The score was 17-9.

Three wins are needed to land a boxer in the quarterfinals, which is the standard here for Olympic qualification. Since there will be 10 qualifiers, the two boxers in the round of 16 who lose to the eventual gold and silver medalists in their division will also be eligible for London.