ABAP holds box-off for Olympic bets

MANILA, Philippines - Only one Filipina boxer will participate in the qualifiers to represent the country at the London Olympics and a box-off is slated 2 p.m. today at the ABAP gym in the Rizal Memorial sports complex to determine if Alice Kate Appari or Nesthy Petecio gets the nod as the 48-51 kilogram contender.

The Olympics will introduce female boxing in the Summer Games program this year but only in three weight categories – 48-51 (flyweight), 57-60 (lightweight) and 69-75 (middleweight) kilograms. The ABAP pool has Olympic-caliber female fighters only in the 48-51 kilogram division. Another fighter Rica Aquino, considered a darkhorse, is under consideration to join the 57-60 kilogram Olympic qualifiers but with her limited experience, is a long shot to make it.  

ABAP executive director Ed Picson said the shoo-ins for the AIBA World Female Boxing Championships in Qinhuangdao, China, on May 9-20 are Josie Gabuco, Appari and Petecio. Aquino, 23, is a 5-7 former Muay Thai fighter and campaigns in the 60 kilogram class. A promising 57 kilogram fighter in the ABAP pool is 19-year-old Janice Ballares. Picson said Aquino and Ballares must still prove themselves deserving of competing at the world level.

The focus of attention in the World Championships will be in the Olympic categories. The top eight finishers in the three Olympic divisions will earn tickets to London. Only 24 female boxers will be accommodated in the Olympic program where the age range is 17 to 34. The quotas are five for Africa, eight for the Americas, eight for Asia, 12 for Europe and three for Oceania. China as host country will receive a reserved slot from the organizing committee. Women’s action begins in London on Aug. 4 and ends on Aug. 9.

 “Josie, Alice and Nesthy are all Olympic-caliber fighters,” said Picson. “Unfortunately, Josie is too light to fight in the Olympic flyweight category that is up to 51 kilograms. So it’s now between Alice and Nesthy. We’ll do the box-off to decide whom to fight in the Olympic qualifier in the World Championships. The winner of the box-off will fight in the 51 kilogram division and the loser in the 54 kilogram division.”

Picson said he has invited boxing writers to witness the box-off. A consensus of the ringside experts will determine the country’s bet for the Olympic qualifiers.

Appari, 27, is a three-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist and a two-time World Championships bronze medalist. A college graduate from Baguio City, Appari competed in the flyweight division at the Asian Championships in Mongolia last March. Petecio, 20, is a two-time National Open gold medalist. She bagged a silver at the Southeast Asian Games last year and a bronze in the Asian Championships as a bantamweight last March.

Gabuco, 25, is a two-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist. The 5-1 lightflyweight claimed a bronze at the World Championships in 2008. The sudden retirement of bantamweight Annie Albania after capturing the silver at the 2010 Asian Games struck out a potential Olympic medalist from the ABAP pool but Picson said either Appari or Petecio is just as capable.

The Olympic weight divisions differ from the categories in the World Championships which list 10 classes – 45-49 (flyweight), 51 (bantamweight), 54 (featherweight), 57 (lightweight), 60 (lightwelterweight), 64 (welterweight), 69 (middleweight), 75 (lightheavyweight), 81 (heavyweight) and +81 (superheavyweight). Because the International Olympic Committee limited female boxing to only 24 participants, AIBA crammed the divisions to three combining flyweight and bantamweight, lightweight and lightwelterweight and middleweight and lightheavyweight.

The goal in Qinhuangdao is to reach the quarterfinals where the eight survivors in the three Olympic divisions automatically qualify for London.