Lerio prevails, Barriga loses vs Cubans

La Lisa, Cuba — Team Caltex Philippines split its first two bouts in the seventh Roberto Balado Cup Thursday evening with bantam Arlan Lerio winning and lightweight Joel Barriga losing against their respective Cuban opponents at the La Vereda Plaza here.

Lerio, a well-oiled fighting machine on top of the ring, scraped past Frank Delgado, 4-2, while Barriga, despite a gutsy stand in the first two rounds, took a 2-6 setback against Juan Despaigne at the open-air venue just a two-hour drive away from the Cuban capital of Havana.

Lerio plunges back into action Friday against another Cuban fighter. Also making his debut in this tournament being held in honor of the late Cuban heavyweight who won the gold in the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 is welterweight Reynaldo Galido, also against a Cuban counterpart.

Victories by Lerio and Galido will assure Team Caltex of two bronze medals. The team, also supported by the Philippine Sports Commission, Pacific Heights and Adidas, is coming off a second-place finish in the Cordova Cardin boxing championships held last week in Havana.

"We can only look forward in the Balado Cup after that strong finish by our boxers in Cordova. Winning four bronze medals and finishing second behind Cuba is a big accomplishment for Team Caltex," said Philippine amateur boxing president Manny Lopez in an overseas message.

Aside from Lerio and Galido, also winning bronze medals in the seven-nation Cordova meet were Barriga and flyweight Violito Payla, who received the best bout trophy for his sterling performance against Atlanta Olympics gold medalist Maikro Romero. Payla lost that bout, 5-14.

The four other members of Team Caltex, which is using this Cuban trip as part of its training and selection process for the Kuala Lumpur Sea Games in September, are lightfly Danilo Lerio, featherweight Ramil Zambales, lightwelter Romeo Brin and lightmiddle Junie Tizon.

"Patuloy ang laban dahil desidido ang buong team, Dito sa Balado ay baka mas maganda ang finish natin," said head coach Gregorio Caliwan, being assisted by Nolito Velasco and Alex Arroyo. The other member of Team Caltex here is referee/judge Darcito Teodoro.

Team Caltex’ four-bronze finish in Cordova was a marked improvement from last year when it failed to nail a single medal under Cuban mentor Raul Liranza. This is the first major international stint for Team Caltex, now back under an All-Filipino coaching staff led by Caliwan and Velasco.

On paper, the Balado Cup is seen as a lighter tournament for the five foreign teams — including Ecuador, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic — since Cuba’s Team A will no longer be represented here after leaving for Ireland for the world championships in June.