TANAMOR GOES FOR GOLD
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 03 Nov 2007
Veteran Olympian Harry Tanamor continued his amazing run at the World Boxing Championships with another rousing 16-8 win over Thailand?s Amnat Ruenroeng to book a place in the finals and the chance for a coveted gold medal at the University of Illinois-Chicago Pavilion in Chicago, yesterday.
Tanamor who had earlier clinched an Olympic berth when he entered the quarter finals by the narrowest of margins stamped his class with a 17-7 thrashing of fancied American Luis Yanez before overpowering the tough Amnat who had earlier scored a lopsided 18-6 win over Hovhannes Danelyan of Armenia.
Tanamor started off cautiously against his Thai opponent and was down 0-2 at the end of the first round but he went on the offensive in the second to turn things around and grabbed a slim 5-4 lead halfway through the bout. Cheered on by a group of Filipinos, the 30 year old Tanamor proved his class in the third round when he caught Amnat with some clean shots to surge further ahead 11-6 before establishing his superiority with a 5-2 margin in the final round for an impressive 16-8 triumph. Yanez said he ?didn?t expect him (Tanamor) to come out there like that.? When told by his corner that he was down by five points at the end if round one Yanez said he didn?t feel he was down by that much, adding ?I guess the judges saw some things differently than what I saw in there.?
Amnat who is fighting in his first major international tournament after replacing Thai veteran Suban Pannom is a former prisoner who has made tremendous progress since he first represented Thailand in the King?s Cup earlier this year where he defeated Asian Games champion Zou Shi Ming of China who was a bronze medalist in the 2004 Athens Olympics.
Tanamor clinched his third successive trip to the Olympics with a tiebreaker win in the quarter finals where his aggressiveness in the final round earned him the nod of the judges. Tanamor represented the Philippines at both the 2000 Sydney and 2004 Athens Olympic Games where he was picked by the prestigious Sports Illustrated magazine to enter the medal round but failed, losing to South Korea?s Hong Moo Won in the round of sixteen.
A two-time bronze medal winner at the World Championships in Ireland in 2001 and Thailand in 2003, Tanamor who was dropped from the Doha Asian Games squad in 2004 for disciplinary reasons will face a formidable foe in China?s Zou Shiming who hammered France?s Nordine Oubaali forcing a stoppage at 1:16 of the third round with the Chinese star ahead 21-1.
Zou won the gold medal at the 2005 World Championships and the bronze medal at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games where Tanamor was eliminated in the round of 32.
Prior to his bout with Amnat, the Thai said ?I have nothing to lose against Tanamor. He is the Doha Asian Games champion but he holds no fear for me despite his impressive resume.?
Earlier, American Yanez who lost to Tanamor in the quarter finals lamented that he ? got caught with shots I shouldn?t have got caught with? although the US coaches conceded that the flashy Filipino made it difficult for Yanez to connect with his ability to block punches and stay out of trouble.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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