Philippine pugs eye semis, World tilt slots

BANGKOK – The three remaining Filipino bets in the ASBC Asian Boxing Championships will find some extra motivation when they see action in the quarterfinals at the Thammasat University Gymnasium here.

Aside from semis slots in this top-level Asian tournament, they’re also seeking berths to the prestigious AIBA World Championships in Doha in October, which serves as a qualifying tournament to next year’s Rio Olympics.

Light-flyweight Rogen Ladon was scheduled to meet No. 2 Murodjon Rasulov of Tajikistan in one of the evening matches Tuesday while flyweight Ian Clark Bautista and welterweight Eumir Felix Marcial will return to the ring Wednesday.

Bautista and Marcial, who both won the gold in the Singapore SEA Games last June, will have their hands full against a crafty boxer from Kyrgyzstan and a favored entry from host country Thailand.

The 20-year-old Bautista will trade punches with Azat Usenaliev while the 19-year-old Marcial, bruised and battered but unbowed, meets hometown favorite Saylom Ardee.

All semifinalists in each of the 10 weight classes here will automatically make it to the World Championships. They will be joined by two losers in the quarterfinals, only to be determined at the end of the competition.

The stakes are high for all the remaining boxers here.

“It only gets tougher as you move along. This is the Asian Championships. The best boxers in Asia are here. But our boxers are ready for any challenge,” said head coach Pat Gaspi.

“Lahat ‘yan target ang (They’re all targeting the) World Championships. Lahat ‘yan gusto makalaro sa (They all want to vie in the) Olympics,” said Gaspi, now the coaches committee chairman of ASBC (Asian Boxing Confederation).

Ed Picson, executive director of the Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines, delivered a short pep talk before the boxers Monday evening.

The ABAP official reminded everyone of the stakes, and how tough it’s going to be in the closing days of the event that drew close to 200 boxers from 33 countries.

“This is critical. All our fights from hereon are critical. There are no two ways about it. We need to win,” said Picson, working on a direct order from ABAP chief Ricky Vargas.

“The mission order is to qualify as many boxers to the Rio Olympics. And the road begins here in this Asian Championships,” he said.

Bantamweight Mario Fernandez, the back-to-back SEA Games champion, and lightweight Charly Suarez, silver medalist in the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, bowed out following close defeats to fighters from Kazakhstan.

Ladon advanced to the quarterfinals with a convincing 3-0 win over  Rakhmankul Avatov of Kyrgyzstan last Sunday when Marcial also came out a big winner over second seed Israil Madrinov of Uzbekistan.

Bautista moved closer  to the World Championships by beating Trong Thai Bui of Vietnam, 3-0, the other day.