Ladon trips Argentine; Manny to grace Aiba World

MANILA, Philippines - Light-flyweight Rogen Ladon opened up his campaign in the AIBA World Championships in Doha, Qatar last night with a 3-0 win over Leandro Blanc of Argentina.

Ladon was aggressive from the start and never gave his opponent the opportunity to score. The Filipino won on the three scorecards by a similar score, 30-26.

Blanc was deducted a point for repeated ducking in the second round as Ladon advanced to the second round against Mexican top seed Joselito Velazquez.

“Ladon was in his usual best. He fought the way he did in Bangkok,” said Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines executive director Ed Picson.

Blanc is a mainstay in the World Series of Boxing but had previously lost to Filipino light-flyweight and 2012 Olympics veteran Mark Anthony Barriga.

Aside from the 21-year-old Ladon, the other Filipino boxer here is welterweight Eumir Felix Marcial, who sees action today against Walid Said Mohamed of Egypt.

The draw was not a favorable one for both Ladon and Marcial. They will have to cross paths with the top seeds in their respective divisions no later than the quarterfinals. 

Ladon and Marcial made it to this Rio Olympics qualifier following their silver-medal finish in last month’s ASBC Asian Boxing Championships in Bangkok.

“It’s something we don’t have any control of. But we’re here to fight and our boxers will never back down,” said Picson of the draw.

Kazakhstan’s Daniyar Yeleussinov is the world No. 1 in the 69 kg division. The Kazakh was the boxer who defeated Marcial in the finals in Bangkok.

Filipino boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao will lend prestige to the event and is expected to arrive in Doha early Thursday morning. Because of his busy schedule, he will leave Doha at 4 a.m. the following day.

Pacquiao will watch Ladon in action tomorrow.

It took weeks for the ABAP executive director to get the confirmation from Pacquiao, who’s very busy lining up his candidacy in the 2016 elections.

Qatari National Olympic Committee chairman Sheik Joaan bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani had personally wanted Pacquiao to grace the event featuring 257 boxers from 74 countries.

AIBA president Ching Kuo Wu relayed the message to Picson during the recent ASBC Asian Boxing Championships in Bangkok.

“Manny was excited about the prospect of seeing the world’s best Olympic-style boxers in action and immediately expressed interest in attending,” said Picson, adding that the huge Filipino community in Doha is now eagerly waiting for the Filipino icon. 

Pacquiao was also curious about the possibility of a professional boxer like him to see action in the Olympics.

“There are restrictions regarding the age and number of professional fights but Manny sounded interested. He kept asking if he’s welcome to compete in the Olympics,” said Picson.