Sydney-bound Brin eyes gold

TAEJON CITY, South Korea -- Romeo Brin will go to Sydney for the 2000 Olympics on September. On Wednesday, he will climb the ring inside the Chung Mu Stadium here to gun for the lightwelterweight gold in the fifth Seoul Cup finals.

Not bad for one who, late last year, contemplated on hanging up his gloves.

"Tumigil ako ng training ng isang buwan, nuong December ng umuwi ako sa pamilya ko sa Taytay, Rizal. Pero bumalik ako last Jan. 3 dahil hinahanap-hanap ng katawan ko ang hirap sa boxing," said the 26-year-old Army sergeant.

Good for Team Caltex Philippines, the five-man squad assembled by the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines to hunt for additional slots for Filipino pugs in this event also serving as the second Asian Olympic qualifying.

"Ace," as he is fondly called by friends, went into no-nonsense crash training a week before the team flew to this chilly city south of Seoul last Jan. 17 and strung up three impressive victories to reach the finals and save the nationals from a disastrous campaign.

Brin stopped Syed Asghar Aleshah of Pakistan in the second round on Jan. 20 when welterweight Junie Tizon fell to a Turkmenistan fighter, roughed up Japanese Yamaguchi Iuroshi last Jan. 23 when bantam Roel Laguna bowed to a Korean then outbrawled Lu Zungwei of China last Jan. 24 when featherweight Ramil Zambales lost his bid for an Olympic slot to a Thai.

Fifth man Danilo Lerio lost in his first outing in the lightflyweight division last Jan. 21 when Zambales grabbed a bronze against a Mongolian.

In this meet where no less than a silver actually counts, only Brin delivered for the Philippine campaign backed by Caltex Phils., Pacific Heights, Adidas and the Philippine Sports Commission.

And despite the fact that a ticket to Sydney is safely tucked under his belt, Brin is not about to take his final match with Riantuthong Pongsak of Thailand easy.

No, not even all the batterings he absorbed in his three previous fights could stop him from trying for the gold against the same boxer he beat in the boxing finals of the 1999 Brunei Southeast Asian Games.