The Philippine contingent ran smack into the favored countries in the early going of the AIBA World Championships and was unable to gather any momentum in the knockout system that eliminates any boxer who suffers a loss.
The first to fall was welterweight Wilfredo Lopez, who drew a Chinese opponent.
Next was 2010 Asian Games gold medalist Rey Saludar, who lasted only two rounds against Mongolia’s Nyambayar Tugstsogt. Joegin Ladon (Bantamweight, 56 Kg) and Charly Suarez (Lightweight, 6o Kg) saved the opening day with convincing victories over their Jordanian and Tajik opponents.
Ladon hammered Seif Emad Qrash, 17-7, while Suarez, back-to-back Southeast Asian Games gold medalist, upset Madadi Nagzebekov, 14-11.
The second day offered no better results as Bago City’s Dennis Galvan, who also won a gold in last year’s Sea Games in Indonesia, succumbed to hard-hitting Kim Choi Song of the People’s Republic of Korea in a slam-bang affair, 8-18.
Last Saturday, Ladon met China’s Zhang Jiawei and engaged him in toe-to-toe action that resulted in an even count after round 1and the Chinese up by only one in round 2.
However, the 30 year-old Philippine Navyman tried too hard to offset the slim advantage of the Chinese and paid dearly for it, eventually bowing, 8-13.
ABAP executive director Ed Picson, who leads the delegation here, admitted “we expected the competition to be top-notch but we just didn’t get any breaks in the draw. Our four losses were to Mongolia, DPRK and twice to China. How much stronger could the opposition be? But it just goes to show that we need to catch up with the powers in boxing. We cannot depend on the luck of the draw to get momentum.” /ABAP media bureau