MASAM SPORTS 56: NESTHY PETECIO AND EUMIR MARCIAL LEAD 10 FILIPINO BOXERS IN THE HANOI SEA GAMES
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 12 May 2022
Tokyo Olympic medalists Nesthy Petecio and Eumir Marcial will spearhead the Philippine boxing team composed of 10 fighters to Hanoi, Vietnam for the Southeast Asian Games.
Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (ABAP) president Ed Picson assured the country of another fine performance of our boxers in the biennial meet that was supposed to be held last year but was reset due to the pandemic.
Five men boxers and five in the women’s category will try to duplicate the great achievement of our boxers who harvested seven golds, three silvers and two bronzes in the 2019 SEA Games hosted by the Philippines.
The Philippine boxing team has been training rigidly as they participated in the Thailand Open where they put up a fine performance as Picson is confident of the Filipino boxers’ gold winning capabilities.
“We’re able to perform well, I would say. We won a couple of gold medals. Two weeks before the tournament, we sent them there to prepare and [the result] went beyond our expectations,” Picson said as quoted by Rappler.
“We also decided that after the tournament that they stay in Thailand. They’re still there, so hopefully this would give them the proper training and preparation for the SEA Games,” he added.
Petecio won a silver medal in the Tokyo Olympics in the women’s featherweight category. She will not defend her SEA Games featherweight title as she moved up to the lightweight class.
Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist Marcial will try to win the gold medal again in the men’s middleweight class.
Marcial recovered from three knockdowns before stopping American Isiah Hart in their middleweight match last April 10 in Las Vegas.
He showered Hart with a barrage of punches in the fourth round forcing the referee to stop the fight. Marcial is now 2-0 as a professional.
Light welterweight James Palicte and flyweight Rogen Ladon will attempt to win the golds again in their respective categories in the men’s division.
Other boxers completing the men’s team are bantamweight Ian Clark Bautista and welterweight Marjon Piañar.
The reigning women’s light flyweight gold medalist Josie Gabuco tries to defend her title. The 2019 SEA Games silver medalists flyweight Irish Magno and featherweight Riza Pasuit will go for the gold this time.
The fifth woman fighter is middleweight Hergie Bacyadan. She was a former national wushu team member.
Tokyo Olympic silver medalist Carlo Paalam now campaigns in the flyweight category, same weight as Ladon, so he will not be competing in the Hanoi SEA Games. He was a gold medalist in the men’s light flyweight division in 2019 in the Philippines.
Picson defended Ladon, a 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympian, for joining the team instead of Paalam in Vietnam.
“For me, Rogen Ladon is an ex-Olympian and he has been showing grit and determination. He has proven himself as captain of the national team and he is the best bet in that weight category,” said Picson.
“Carlo is still catching up with his competition form,” ABAP secretary general Marcus Manalo was quoted by CNN Philippines.
Photo: Upper - Marcial and Petecio / Lower - Gabuco and Ladon.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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