ROGEN LADON WINS BERTH IN RIO OLYMIC GAMES WITH WIN OVER LAISHAM OF INDIA IN SEMI FINALS
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 31 Mar 2016
Rogen Ladon lived up to his No. 1 ranking in the Asia-Oceania qualifying tournament in Qian?An, Herbei Province in China to score a rousing Victory over India?s Laisham to clinch a berth in the Rio Olympic Games in August.
Five months after narrowly losing his shot at qualifying during the world championship in Doha, the Filipino light flyweight again ended up in tears but this time, however, they were tears of joy.
Ladon became the first ABAP boxer to qualify for the Olympics after Mark Anthony Barriga made it to the London Games in 2012.
All three judges scored it 30-27 for the 22-year-old Ladon, the 2015 Southeast Asian Games silver medalist who now fights for the gold against Uzbekistan?s Hasanboy Dusmatov, winner over
Mongolia?s Gankhuyag Gan-Erdene in the other semis bout.
The talented Dusmatov had denied Ladon in the finals of the 2015 ASBC Asian Confederation Boxing Championships by decision.
Shut off from the gold medal bout after losing to Russian Vasili Egorov in the semifinals last October in Qatar, Ladon who hails from Bago City, Negros Occidental, refused to fall into an elaborate trap laid down by his crafty opponent.
Executive Director Ed Picson told The Standard, ?Rogen focused on boxing and did not allow himself to be baited into the clinching and infighting tactics that his Indian foe wanted. He stuck to the fight plan of keeping his distance.?
Frustrated by his failure to lure Ladon inside, Laisham lunged in desperation and got deducted a point in the second round for excessive ducking.
Ladon wept after his hand was raised and continued to sob uncontrollably in the dugout as the entire Philippine delegation congratulated him.
Coach Nonito ?Boy? Velasco said ?the whole day yesterday we studied our opponent. He needed to be first to land his straight because the Indian was good on the outside. Ladon connected with
straights first and an uppercut.?
Though assured of a spot in the Olympics, Ladon is not about to rest on his achievement.
He vowed to ?go fo gold? saying ? We are No.1 here and it would be a shame if we don?t win gold.?
Bantamweight Mario Fernandez failed to follow Ladon outright to Rio as the Asian Games bronze medalist, fell to highly regarded Thai Chatchai Butdee in their semis bout, 29-27 in the cards of all three judges, and will have to go through a box-off with Kazakhstan?s Kairat Yeraliyev who was beaten by fancied Indian boxer Shiva Thapa on the scorecards of all three judges.
Picson said ?It looked like Mario delivered the more telling combinations. The Thai was able to rally in the closing seconds of the second and third rounds, but his punches were not as crisp. Our coaches were baffled by the decision, but Mario vowed to get the slot tomorrow.?
Two other Filipino fighters, lightweight Charly Suarez and welterweight Eumir Felix Marcial, will climb up the ring later in the evening for a slot in Rio.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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