Will Barriga break Olympic jinx?

LONDON – Lightflyweight contender Mark Anthony Barriga of Panabo, Davao del Norte is going all out against Kazakhstan’s Birzhan Zhakypov at the ExCel South Arena here this afternoon (8:45 p.m. Manila time) in a bid to become the first Filipino quarterfinalist in Olympic boxing in 16 years.

Barriga, 19, battles Zhakypov, 28, in another David and Goliath bout that, on paper, puts the Filipino at a disadvantage. Barriga is four inches shorter than Zhakypov, but in beating Italy’s Manuel Cappai in his Olympic debut last Tuesday, he was in a similar situation yet pounded out a convincing 17-7 decision. Ceiling and length don’t seem to matter to Barriga who makes up for his lack of size with a polished style, strategy and guile.

What worries Filipino sports officials is Kazakhstan’s influence on the AIBA (Association Internationale de Boxe), the Lausanne-based governing body whose president is Dr. Ching Kuo Wu of Taiwan. So far, two Kazakhs have managed to pull off controversial victories in boxing here, raising speculation that referees and judges are showing preferential treatment. One of the Kazakh winners is Zhakypov himself. He came from behind to eke out an 18-17 verdict over France’s Jeremy Beccu in a disputed outcome that was booed by the crowd last Tuesday.

Kazakhstan is the only country with two representatives in the AIBA’s powerful 27-man Executive Committee – Serik Konakbayev and Timur Kulibayev. In September, AIBA is scheduled to open its Boxing Academy in Almaty, Kazakhstan, cementing a close relationship that could impact on the Olympic results.

Dr. Wu, however, has made a clear effort to expunge speculation that AIBA is tainted by corrupt or incompetent officials. So far, he has thrown the book at two officials here – German referee Frank Scharmach (five-day suspension) and Turkmenistan’s Ishanguly Meretnyyazov (dismissed) for shady work.

If Barriga survives Zhakypov, he meets the winner of the bout between China’s defending Olympic gold medalist Zou Shiming and Cuba’s Yosbany Veitia Soto in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. It will take five straight wins to capture the gold medal. There are 26 fighters in the 49 kilogram division with six lucky contenders awarded byes in the first round.

AIBA has done away with the scoring system where a point is given only if three of the five judges push a button within a split second of each other on a console box hooked up to a computer. Now, the five judges submit scores for every round and each fighter is awarded points based on the average or the “trimmed mean” of the three remaining tallies after eliminating the highest and lowest. Other innovations applied here are the removal of the white circle on the knuckle part of the glove and the use of three three-minute rounds instead of four two-minute rounds.

The last two Filipino quarterfinalists in Olympic boxing were lightflyweight Onyok Velasco and flyweight Elias Recaido in 1996. Velasco went on to bag the silver after losing to Daniel Petrov Bojilov of Bulgaria in the finals while Recaido failed to make it to the semifinals. 

In Olympic boxing history, eight Filipinos reached the quarterfinals but lost – Jose Padilla, Jr. and Simplicio de Castro in 1936, Rodolfo Arpon in 1964, Reynaldo Fortaleza in 1976, Leopoldo Cantancio in 1984, Roberto Jalnaiz and Ronald Chavez in 1992 and Recaido. Barriga hopes he’s not added to the list.

Including Barriga, the Philippines has now sent 72 fighters to the Olympics. The roster lists three-time Olympian Romeo Brin (1996, 2000, 2004) and two-timers Padilla (1932, 1936), Ernesto Parto (1948, 1952), Dominador Calumarde (1964, 1968), Arpon (1964, 1968), Cantancio (1984, 1988), Jalnaiz (1988, 1992) and Harry Tañamor (2004, 2008). In the Beijing Olympics four years ago, Tanamor made a disappointing exit after his first bout. 

Watching Barriga at ringside in his second Olympic fight are his parents Edgar and Melita who were brought here by Procter & Gamble. They leave for home tomorrow.