FIVE GALLANT FILIPINO BOXERS CONTINUE TO BATTLE FOR AN OLYMPIC BERTH IN RIO
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 29 Mar 2016
Marcial wins.
Five gallant Filipino boxers continue to battle for an Olympic berth in the Riod de Janiero Games later this year as they kept
their hopes alive in the Asia-Oceania Olympic Qualifying Event currently being held at the massive Tangshan Jiujiang Sports Center in Qian'An, Hebei Province, China.
ABAP Executive-Director Ed Picson described Monday as ?a busy and productive day for the Philippine National Boxing team with hard-hitting Eumir Felix Marcial, seeded number 1 in the welterweight division living up to his billing as he TKO'd his Australian rival, Kori Istafanos in the third and last round.
The Aussie who is actually a transplanted Sudanese, looked intimidating with his stocky, Muscular build but he seemed aware and wary of Marcial's power and skill.
Picson reported that Istafanos was content with running around to keep out of harm's way. Marcial however, caught up with him several times and unloaded power bombs. The Hungarian lady referee Veronika Szuchs issued two standing 8 counts in the third round and stopped the fight after the second one.
Another top seed, Rogen Ladon fighting in the light flyweight division who was, a bronze medalist in the World Championships in Doha last year, had his hands full against his Japanese opponent Tosho Kashiwasaki. However, the Bago City native eked out a 29-28, 29-28, 30-27 decision.
Bantamweight Mario Fernandez, a back-to-back SEA Games gold medalist, proved too much for Turkmenistan's Yakub Meredov whom he jolted time and again with left-right combinations. The three judges all scored the match 30-27 for the Bukidnon Air Force man.
The only damper in the Philippine schedule was Roldan Boncales' loss to Oizhas Sattibayev of Kazakhstan the No. 4 seed, in the flyweight division. It was a close, exciting fight between
two speedy fighters, and the judges gave the Kazakh fighter the nod by scores of 29-28 twice and 30-27. Boncales had won his first assignment against Vietnam?s national champion in his
opening bout.
The Tuesday Quarterfinals will see the 5 remaining RP boxers in action: Ladon vs. Al-Kaabi (Iraq), Fernandez vs. Mohammad Alwadi (Jordan) who beat Jayden Hansen of Australia who already who already fought in Doha this year where he reached the quarter finals of the Doha International Tournament.
Lightweight star Charly Suarez will battle Dheeraj Ranji of India, Marcial will clash with vs. Kazemzadehposhtiri (Iran) and Nesthy Petecio will face a tough task against . 5-time world
champion Mary Kom of India.
Lightweight Dheeraj Rangi who won a silver medal in the World Military Games being held in Mungyeong, South Korea.
The 20-year-old Indian fighter went down to Algeria's Yahia Abdelli in the gold medal bout and settled for second place, the lone Indian boxer to do so in the Games, said a media release from JSW Sports which supports him.
In the final, Rangi fought valiantly even though he sustained a severely bruised hand in the opening minute of the bout. Ultimately, the Algerian prevailed by a 3-0 verdict in a fight that was much closer than what the scoreline suggested.
Rangi, who defeated boxers from Tanzania, Cameroon, Germany and Kazakhstan enroute to the final of the lightweight category, said he was disappointed to miss out on the gold medal. He said ?I was in really good rhythm all through the competition. In the first three rounds, I managed unanimous victories and they gave me a lot of confidence. Even today I was very confident of coming out on top against the Algerian however the hand injury that I sustained hampered my approach," he said.
A native of Haryana, the youngster trains at the Army Sports Institute (ASI) in Pune and has been a part of JSW's Sports Excellence Program (SEP) for the past two years.
ABAP executive director Ed Picson says this is "where we wanted to be at this juncture. At least two more wins for each boxer will get them slots to Rio. And I think all 5 can get there if they want it badly enough."
Picson reiterated to the boxers ABAP president Ricky Vargas' pledge that if they qualify they will not only get incentives but will be given more extensive training and support in the run up to the Olympics.
The top 3 boxers in the men's division and the top 2 in the women's class book a ticket each to the Summer Olympiad in Rio de Janeiro this August.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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