MANILA, Philippines - ABAP (Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines) president Ricky Vargas said yesterday while the goal is to capture as many gold medals as possible at the 28th Southeast Asian Games in Singapore on June 5-16, the ultimate objective is to qualify several fighters for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
The Philippines is sending six men and four women to Singapore. Medal shoo-ins Charly Suarez and Mark Anthony Barriga are not in the team as they’ve been handpicked by AIBA to compete in Olympic qualifiers through the AIBA Pro Boxing program. ABAP executive director Ed Picson said the 10 fighters vying for honors in the coming SEA Games were chosen from a pool of 18.
“Our long-term view is to get as much experience (in the SEA Games) to qualify as many boxers for the Rio Olympics,” said Vargas. “Our boxers headed for the SEA Games are a combination of experience and potential. They are ready to fight for country and are very competitively trained.”
Vargas declined to predict how many medals the fighters will garner. “It’s hard to make a prediction but definitely, we may bring home a couple of golds,” he said. “My worry is fair officiating as you know, outcomes do not necessarily agree with our assessment.”
The team is made up of lightflyweight Rogen Ladon, flyweight Ian Clark Bautista, bantamweight Mario Fernandez, lightweight Junel Cantancio, welterweight Eumir Felix Marcial and middleweight Wilfredo Lopez in the men’s division and lightflyweight Josie Gabuco, flyweight Irish Magno, bantamweight Nesthy Petecio and lightweight Riza Pasuit.
At the last SEA Games in Myanmar, boxing delivered three gold, four silver and three bronze medals. Six medalists are back in this year’s lineup. Claiming gold in Myanmar were Gabuco, Barriga and Fernandez. The silver medalists were Cantancio, Lopez, Petecio and Dennis Galvan while the third placers were Magno, Maricris Igram and Rey Saludar.
Boxing has been a traditional source of medals for the Philippines in the SEA Games. In 2011, the haul consisted of four gold medals, one silver and one bronze. In 2009, it was five gold, one silver and three bronze medals. In 2007, the men failed to bag a gold but collected seven silvers and two bronzes while the women took one gold and five silvers. The harvest was richest when Manila hosted the 2005 edition with boxers grabbing eight gold, four silver and two bronze medals.
The team will be accompanied by head coach Pat Gaspi and assistants Romeo Brin and Boy Velasco for the men and assistants Roel Velasco and Mitchel Martinez for the women. The delegation will also include AIBA 3-star referee/judge Cildo Evasco from Baguio City and UP Human Kinetics professor and sports psychologist Marcus Manalo.
Like Vargas, Picson hesitated to make predictions but singled out Gabuco, Petecio, Marcial, Fernandez and Bautista as the strongest bets for gold. “It’s not to say the others don’t have a chance at podium finishes,” he qualified. “Remember, in 2013, we had 10 medals from 10 boxers.”
The age range of the boxers is 19 to 29. The youngest is Marcial, a 19-year-old Zamboangueño who took the gold at the World Junior Championships in Kazakhstan in 2011. He also won the gold at the Asian Youth Championships in Subic two years later. The 6-1 Marcial is now on his sixth year as an amateur fighter. The oldest is the 29-year-old Lopez who claimed a bronze at the Asian Games in Incheon last year.
Gabuco, 28, is a three-time SEA Games gold medalist from the 2009, 2011 and 2013 editions. She also won the gold at the World Championships in 2012. Petecio, 23, is fresh from hitting paydirt at the President’s Cup in Palembang, Indonesia, so she’s primed to go for gold after silver finishes in the last two SEA Games. Fernandez, 21, collected a bronze at the last Asian Games and a silver at the recent President’s Cup in Palembang. He also picked up a gold at the Lion’s Cup in Sri Lanka last year. Bautista, 20, captured a gold at the Asian Youth Championships in Subic in 2013 and also took the gold at the China Open in Guiyang last year.
A newcomer to international competition is the 5-3 Pasuit of Bacolod. She won the gold at the National Open in 2009 and the silver at the Philippine National Games in 2012. Pasuit, 22, fought her way to a ticket to Singapore in the 60-kilogram women’s class.
Source: Joaquin Henson of Philippine Star
