Barriga raises Philippines' hope for Olympic medal

MANILA, Philippines – Filipino boxer Mark Anthony Barriga lived up to the billing with a smashing 17-7 win over a much taller Manuel Cappai of Italy on Tuesday night to open his gold medal quest in the London Olympics.

The 5-foot-2 Barriga dominated the fight from the opening bell, using his counterpunching skills to throw off his 5-foot-6 opponent.

The Philippines’ lone medal prospect in boxing unleashed a combination that forced Cappai to a standing-eight count right in the opening round.

Sensing that he is way behind in the scorecard, Cappai tried to answer back but Barriga was too smart and eluded the Italian’s punches, pushing his lead to 9-4.

Barriga then finished off Cappai in clinical fashion in the third round.

The Filipino will face Birzhan Zhakypov of Kazakhstan in the Round of 16 this Saturday.

This marks the first time a Filipino boxer advanced to the Round of 16 since light flyweight Harry Tanamor did the trick in the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Tanamor, however, failed to get past the round, bowing to Hong Moo-Won of South Korea.