Manny Lopez, who has been on top of the country’s amateur boxing program over the last decade, made this declaration yesterday, four days after he returned from the Sydney Games where four Filipino boxers led by the Lerio brothers took bitter losses one after the other.
"For me, this is just a temporary setback and this will serve as a challenge. I’m still proud of our boxers and in fact, this early, we are laying the groundwork for a comeback," said Lopez. "I still have the faith and confidence in the potential and capacity of the Filipino boxer."
Lopez is now keeping his fingers crossed that a total reconstruction of their program, including the sending of RP boxers to more international events as part of their training, will eventually help the country fulfill its long-cherished dream of winning the gold in the Olympics.
"We’re back to square one. We’re starting from scratch and I’m just thankful that our private sponsors like Caltex have not given up on us," said Lopez, who also added that Filipino boxers have already seen the last of Cuban coach Raul Liranza.
Liranza, who called the shots when Mansueto "Onyok" Velasco won the silver in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, has been severely criticized – and blamed – for the painful, down-the-wire losses of the Lerios – lightfly Danilo and flyweight Arlan.
"Liranza’s contract with us is set to expire and it looks very dim than we will rehire him. I don’t know if you can call it his demise but we have to terminate his contract. From now on, we will stick to an all-Pinoy coaching staff which will be responsible for whatever happens to our boxers," he said.
Lopez said from now on, they will put more emphasis on our boxers’ footwork. "We noticed that all the winners in Sydney ay ‘yung mabibilis ang paa. Hindi bale kung maliit ka, basta mabilis ang footwork mo okay na.
Also, we need to regain our prominence with Thailand in the regional level." Asked how it felt failing to bring home a medal for the first time since the 1988 Seoul Olympics, Lopez said: "Pera na (for the boxers) naging bato pa. Ginto na (for the country) naging buhangin pa."