ABAP feels WB’s growing pains
By Joaquin Henson
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 10 Sep 2025
Marcus Manalo.
ABAP secretary-general Marcus Manalo said yesterday a hiccup on the administrative side of newly-IOC recognized international federation World Boxing’s inaugural World Championships currently ongoing in Liverpool resulted in the disqualification of 12 female fighters from France, Dominican Republic, Nigeria, Fiji and the Philippines through no fault of theirs.
“They were pulled out because their genetic sex test results didn’t come out before the draw,” noted Manalo. “In our fighter Ofelia Magno’s case, we had to get her test done in Liverpool upon arrival as arranged by the organizers because the test is not available in the Philippines. We had two others (Riza Pasuit and Aira Villegas) who were able to get tested earlier since they attended the training camp in Sheffield. Aira, however, didn’t push through competing in Liverpool because of a shoulder issue.”
Manalo said World Boxing stuck to a strict policy on genetic sex tests because of controversies at the Paris Olympics leading to formal appeals before the Court of Arbitration for Sport. “It’s unfortunate that the opportunity to compete was taken away from 12 boxers and it’s not the National Federation’s fault because World Boxing arranged an option for the testing to be done in Liverpool,” said Manalo. “The French team and the French Sports Minister have spoken to international media about it since the entire French women’s team was disqualified.”
Since the World Championships are considered a dress rehearsal for the 2028 LA Olympics, organizers will learn from shortcomings to make sure they don’t recur. World Boxing was established in 2023 and received conditional recognition from IOC early this year to pave the way for the sport to be included in the LA calendar. The strict implementation of the rule left the Philippines suffering from collateral damage. Magno, 21, would've made her World debut in the 48kg division.
Meanwhile, Tokyo Olympic silver medalist Carlo Paalam bowed to Dominican Republic’s Junior Alcantara on a 4-1 decision in a 55kg Round of 32 match yesterday. Alcantara took the first round, 5-0 but Paalam battled back to win the second, 3-2. Early in the third, an accidental headbutt opened a deep cut on Paalam’s right eyebrow and the bout was stopped. It went to the scorecards and Alcantara prevailed. “Even if he won, Carlo wouldn’t be able to fight in the Round of 16 with that big cut along with his swollen hand that he injured in his first bout,” said Manalo. “Very unfortunate but it’s still great to see Carlo back in the ring.”
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