TANAMOR FACES TOUGH TEST IN FIRST BOUT
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 09 Aug 2008
The Philippines lone hope in the quest for an elusive gold medal in boxing at the Beijing Olympic Games faces a tough test in his first bout against 20 year old Manyo Plange, a member of Ghana?s ?Black Bombers? squad.
Plange won a silver medal at the 2007 All Africa Games to qualify for the Olympics. He lost in the finals to Suleiman Bilali of Kenya.
The boxers from Ghana are trained by Cuban coach Roberto Ibanez Chavez who was impressed with the performance of Plange in the 9th All African Games in Algiers in which Plange won in sensational fashion in his opening bout against Nigeria?s Dada Jamil.
A report from Ghana News said Plange was ?so dominant that everybody present in the venue applauded him at the end of four rounds of action? which resulted in a 28-9 victory.
The Ghana News reported that ?the mobility and attacking skills of Plange were so refined that one wondered whether it was the same Plange who was in the ring against his bigger Nigerian foe, while he remained very conscious of his defensive mechanism that made him rather elusive and invisible to his opponent.?
Plange himself said some time ago "we have gone through a series of training, denied ourselves pleasures and sacrificed for good results.?
This includes Chavez? use of vehicle tires as improvised punching bags. The Cuban coach who was handling the Ghana boxing team that trained at the C.K. Gyamfi Sports College insisted that the boxers should use the tires despite the availability of punching bags and hitting pads because he strongly believed such a strenuous exercise would toughen the boxers.
In fact Ghana?s newspaper The Statesman reported that the Chief Executive Officer of Ghana?s National Sports Council, Prince Ernest Oduro-Mensah defended coach Chavez for his use of vehicle tires saying ?I believe the tires will toughen their knuckles? pointing out that such greats as Muhammad Ali and other Cuban and Mexican boxers ?have gone through such exercises and that?s why I was amazed when sections of the sporting public criticized it.?
Chavez has said that ?the difference will be the mental toughness and the willingness to win? adding ?I hope my boys will fight.?
The Chairman of the Ghana Amateur Boxing Authority, Solomon Offei Darko had said even before the African Championships that he was upbeat over the chances of his boxers. ?My confidence in these boys is at an all-time high? he added.
Tanamor has got his initial wish that China?s heavily favored World Champion who scored a lopsided victory in the last World Championship finals in Chicago over the Filipino, would not cross paths unless they both enter the battle for the gold medal.
Tanamor got his wish when Zou Shiming who was ranked No.1 by Sports Illustrated in its Olympic preview and was at 1.25 to 1 in the Sports Odds line compared to Tanamor who was picked No. 3 at 11-1 was drawn in the upper half of the light flyweight division.
Now that he?s got his wish Tanamor has several tough battles to fight beginning with his August 13 showdown against Plange. The quest for gold for the tough little Filipino won't be easy but there is hope, it can be done.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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