NIETES, PALICTE SETTLE FOR BRONZE IN CHINA OPEN
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 10 Apr 2010
Light flyweight Gerson Nietes and bantamweight Aston Francis Palicte settled for bronze medals in the highly competitive inaugural China Open boxing tournament held in Guiyang City, Guizhou Province falling to superior opponents in their semi-final bouts.
According to Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines president Ricky Vargas who was at ringside to watch the fights along with ABAP secretary general Pato Gregorio told us in a telephone conversation from the venue that Nietes ?started strong? but faded because, in Vargas? view, he didn?t have the stamina to take on tough Idyaz Sulay-Minov of Kazakhstan.
On the other hand Palicte, a 3rd round stoppage winner over Hong Kong ?s Cho Cheng Yu in the quarterfinals clashed with hard-hitting Mirzhan Rakhimzhanov also 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.
Both Palicte and Nietes are guaranteed of a bronze medal for making it past the quarters in a performance that Vargas said ?I am glad I watched? because it gave him an insight of what needed to be done.
His initial observation was that Palicte lacked hand-speed and overall quickness and simply couldn?t get through the defense of his opponent while the young Nietes needed to improve his conditioning. However, the ABAP president said ?you need to lose some to learn and then to win.?
There was no word at press time on the result of the semi-final bout between welterweight Wilfredo Lopez who was the third and last Filipino boxer remaining in contention.
Lopez who scored a spectacular win over Mutaz Don Duk of Jordan faces an 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..
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.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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