ABAP builds up for new year

MANILA, Philippines — Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (ABAP) secretary-general Marcus Manalo said yesterday the national pool of 43 is taking a break from joining competitions until possibly the Thailand Open in May but will continue to train and build up for the new year with the World Boxing Championships in Liverpool in September and the SEA Games in Bangkok in December the highlights of a busy calendar.

“We’re not joining anything from January to early March as our focus will be on building up from the break,” said Manalo. “We have a training camp in Korea in April then the Thailand Open in May and the Elorda Cup in Kazakhstan in June. But those tournaments are yet to be finalized. The main competition this year is the World Boxing Championships in Liverpool on Sept. 4-14.” The Liverpool event will be the first elite-level global affair staged by World Boxing, the international federation established in April 2023 seeking IOC recognition to restore the sport in the LA Olympics.

ABAP’s final foray of 2024 was the Asian Boxing Confederation Elite Championships in Chiang Mai last Nov. 28-Dec. 12. Five men and two women represented the country, returning home with a silver and four bronzes. The overall record was seven wins and seven losses with only Mervin Alcober (60kg) and Jara Flint (54kg) failing to register a victory.

Marvin Tabamo, 28, was the top finisher with a silver in the men’s 51kg division. He beat Ukraine’s Mulhammadiev Shovush (5-0), China’s Wang Xiangkun (4-1) and Chinese-Taipei’s Hsu Po Hao (RSC Round 2) before bowing to Uzbekistan’s Asilbek Jalilov (5-0) in the final. Bronze medalists were Jay Bryan Baricuatro (48kg), Ian Clark Bautista (57kg), Mark Ashley Fajardo (63.5kg) and Riza Pasuit (57kg).

Fajardo, 20, defeated Chinese-Taipei’s Lin Yu (RSC Round 2) then lost a disputed split decision to Uzbekistan’s Mukhiddinov Adhkhamjon. Fajardo knocked down the Uzbek in the first and second rounds but couldn’t convince the judges he deserved the verdict. Morocco referee Abdellatif Makfouni deducted a point from Fajardo in the second round. Judges Jovana Ugrenovic of Serbia and Tobar Lomas of Ecuador saw it 28-all. Judges Tomas Dittinger of Slovakia and Sara Bouhlel of Tunisia had it a questionable shutout for Adhkhamjon, 30-26, while Gyuray Hidvegi of Hungary scored it 29-27. Of the Filipinos’ seven losses, five were dealt by Uzbeks.