THREE RP BOXERS IN CHINA OPEN SEMI FINALS
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 08 Apr 2010
Welterweight Wilfredo Lopez became the third Filipino boxer to enter the semi finals of the inaugural China Open boxing tournament in Guiyang, Guizhou with a spectacular win over Mutaz Don Duk of Jordan.
With the win Lopez assured himself of at least a bronze medal in the tournament sanctioned by the world governing body, the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) although he faces an awesome task in his quest for a crack at the gold in a semi final battle with national champion Arisnoide Despaigne of amateur boxing powerhouse Cuba, on Friday.
Despaigne was a gold medallist in the Independence Boxing Cup beating a hometown favourite in the Dominican Republic.
In his quarter final bout Lopez overwhelmed his Jordanian opponent, hammering him with vicious combinations that gave the referee no choice but to call a halt at 1:24 of the second round with the Filipino enjoying a 5-0 lead on points.
Also seeking a championship appearance and crack at gold are bantamweight Aston Francis Palicte and light flyweight Gerson Nietes who drew a bye to make it into the semifinals.
Palicte, a 3rd round stoppage winner over Hong Kong ?s Cho Cheng Yu in the quarterfinals, will square off with hard-hitting Mirzhan Rakhimzhanov of Kazakhstan who was at one time ranked among the top four in the world and did well in the World Championships in Chicago in 2007.
On the other hand Nietes meets another Kazakh in Idyaz Sulay-Minov in a pair of semis bout that will assure the victor of at least a silver medal.
Just like Lopez, both Palicte and Nietes are guaranteed of a bronze medal for making it past the quarters.
Meanwhile two other Filipinos who are all part of the seven-man PLDT-backed RP suffered bitter quarterfinal defeats to highly-touted foes.
Featherweight Charly Suarez one of 14 athletes from 13 countries who are beneficiaries of the G4S 4TEEN program of the world?s biggest security service provider that launched a worldwide program to help potential competitors to the 2012 London Olympics, dropped a 5-2 verdict to European circuit veteran Dmitry Polyansky of Russia while flyweight Rey Saludar lost to 2008 Olympic gold medalist Zou Shimming in a one-sided 10-0 beating.
Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (ABAP) president Ricky Vargas and secretary-general Patrick Gregorio were scheduled to leave for China to personally assess the performances of the fighters and coaching staff while ABAP executive director Ed Picson will also return to China along with select members of the national training team in both men and women. The boxers from the national pool will undergo rigorous training in Beijing starting next week.
Over 200 boxers and participants from 20 national federations had earlier gathered at the Jinyang Stadium of Guiyang City, Guizhou province of southwestern China for the opening ceremony. The tournament will stage over 100 matches between the 5th and the 10th of April.
AIBA President Dr Ching-Kuo Wu, among other VIPs from Chinese Olympic Committee, Guizhou Province and Guiyang City welcomed all the boxers participating in this event. More than a dozen of these world top ranked boxers were Olympic and/or World Championship medalists coming from Asia, Europe, and America to compete for 11 titles.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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