Bornea advances but Bacho succumbs

MANILA, Philippines - Jake Bornea pummeled Latvia’s Dimitris Zaharovs and fashioned out a convincing 19-6 win but Jonas Bacho dropped a sorry 10-12 setback to Nursultan Bizanbayev of Uzbekistan in the AIBA World Youth Championships at the Karen Demirchyan Sports Complex in Yerevan, Armenia Sunday.

Bornea, fighting out of Gen. Santos City, oozed with confidence and delivered sharp combinations to take all three rounds in routing Zaharovs, who has fought in several foreign competitions in Russia and Kazakhstan, including a previous World Championships.

The 18-year-old Bornea scored almost at will, attacking his taller opponent with crisp combinations and then showed superb footwork to elude his rival’s counter-punches.

But the reed-thin Bacho struggled against the veteran Bizanbayev, a gold medal winner in the Sydney Jackson Memorial Tournament in Uzbekistan earlier this year, although the Filipino fighter never gave up despite falling by as many as four points in the early going.

In the third round, the Uzbek seemed bewildered by Bacho’s tenacity and started back-pedalling while being rained on by Bacho’s punches. Although he won the round, the Mandaluyong fighter had to settle for a two-point loss.

“We are proud of the performance of Jake and Jonas. They fought with great courage and skill. I see a bright future for Philippine boxing with our young recruits from the ABAP grassroots program. They do our chairman MVP proud,” said ABAP president Ricky Vargas in a text message to ABAP executive director Ed Picson.

Meanwhile, Eumir Marcial tries to go for another win as he faces Tajikistan’s national champion Muminjon Mukhtorov Monday while Ian Clark Bautista debuts against Khakimjon Ubaydullayev, also of Uzbekistan who recently bagged a bronze medal in the Ahmet Comert International Youth tournament in Turkey.

The team is handled by national coaches Romeo Brin and Elmer Pamisa. Also in the tournament are International Technical Official Jesus San Esteban Jr. and referee Roger Fortaleza.