BARRIGA, BONCALES WIN FIRST BOUTS IN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 18 Oct 2013
Barriga.
Olympian Mark Anthony Barriga showed why he is the country's top boxer when he defeated Vietnamese Ngoc Tan Huynh, a 2011 Southeast Asian Games silver medalist in the AIBA world boxing championships at the Baluan Sholak Palace of Sports in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Barriga scored a unanimous decision in the light-flyweight category with all the three judges scoring 30-27 to give the PLDT-ABAP national men's boxing team it's second win in three bouts.
In the opening day Monday, Roldan Boncales of General Santos City scored an upset win over Eddie Barillas of Guatemala, a veteran of the 1988 Beijing Olympics. Boncales was a last minute substitute for Asian Games gold medalist Rey Saludar in the flyweight division.
The 20-year-old Barriga had a a three-inch height disadvantage and he compensated this by scoring on dreaded counterpunches and booming left straights. He also used his exceptional speed and excellent footwork to get rid of Ngoc's longer reach.
The Panabo native won two successive gold medals during the Sydney Jackson Tournament in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Barriga will fight a more dangerous opponent in the next round, number-five seed Yosvani Veitia Soto of Cuba, who lost to the popular Zou Shiming in the 2012 London Olympics amidst a howl of protests from fans and countrymen.
The son of a tricycle driver, Boncales used smart in-and-out moves to frustrate the Latino fighter 10 years his senior. He won in all three judges scorecards 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28.
Boncales won the gold medal in the Kuala Lumpur City Day Cup where he was declared "Boxer with Most Potential."
Dennis Galvan was not as lucky though in the light-welterweight division. The 2011 SEA games gold medalist lost to a more seasoned boxer from Azerbaijan, Gaybatulla Gadzhialiyev, last Tuesday.
Gadzhialiyev, a campaigner at the London Olympics was the 10th seed in the tournament, was just too quicker shooting vaunted hooks and straights convincing the judges to score a unanimous decision in three rounds.
Mario Fernandez of Valencia, Bukidnon fights in the bantamweight category against Imran Khan, the national champion of Guyana on Thursday.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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