Suarez lone survivor as other PHL pugs fall to prey to dubious decisions

INCHEON, South Korea – Charly Suarez was left all alone standing to continue the gold medal hunt for the Philippine men's boxing team after three other pugs lost in controversial decisions that have hounded the boxing tournament at the Seonhak Gymnasium here Thursday.

Suarez is now assured of at least a silver medal after earning a split decision over Jordan's Obada Mohammad Mustafa Alkasbeh. He will go for the lightweight gold against Mongolia's Otgibdalai Dorjnyambuu.

Two of the three judges scored the bout in favor of Suarez, 30-27, while the Russian judge gave the fight to the Jordanian, 29-28.

Olympian light flyweight Mark Anthony Barriga, bantamweight Mario Fernandez and middleweight Wilfredo Lopez failed to join Suarez in the final day of competitions after absorbing questionable decisions.

Barriga was the first to fall, settling for bronze as he lost a unanimous decision to hometown bet Shin Jonghun in their light flyweight semifinals match. All three judges gave the fight to the Korean, 29-28, 30-27, 29-28, in what felt like another hometown decision.

Despite the loss, Barriga was still grateful that he was able to land a medal.

Barriga felt he clearly won the second round by negating the much busier Korean.

“Unanimous pa. Kahit sana binigyan na lang ako ng one point, okay lang,” said Barriga.

“Pasalamat pa rin tayo kahit natalo tayo. Thankful pa rin ako na hindi ako nasaktan. Ginawa ko ‘yung best ko. Kayo na mag-judge. Basta ako, I did my best,” he added.

Fernandez also fell by the wayside, 29-28, in all judges' score cards as China's Zhang Jiawei marched to the finals.

Lopez dropped a split decision to Odai Riyad Adel Alhindawi of Jordan in what really looked like a won fight for the Filipino pug.

Lopez won the first round but Alhindawi took the next canto to tie the bout. In the pivotal third round, Lopez appeared to have taken the advantage, staggering his Jordanian opponent in the corner where he dropped his mouthpiece.

But to the shock once again of the majority of the crowd, Alhiwandawi was declared the winner via split decision.

Association of Boxing Alliances of the Philippines (ABAP) executive director Ed Picson was disappointed with the outcome.

"Paano nanalo yung Jordanian? Ni hindi nga marunong mag-boxing," Picson said after the match.