RP pugs compete in Acropolis Cup

A nine-man Team Caltex Philippines squad left for Athens, Greece last night to participate in the 2001 Acropolis Cup.

Composed of virtual newcomers, the team is headed by Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (ABAP) president Manny Lopez, who flew in straight from the World Championships held in Belfast, Ireland last week.

The team is composed of light flyweight Lhyven Salazar, flyweight Rene Villaluz, bantamweight Freddie Gamu, featherweight Florencio Ferrer, welterweight David Gopong and middleweight Maximo Tabancura. Coaches are Vicente Arcel and Elmer Pamisa while the referee/judge is Ernesto Peque. Leading the delegation is ABAP treasurer and NCR VP Ruben Roque.

"We are expecting rough sailing in this tournament for we were told that most of those who joined the world championships will be coming in this tournament. However, the boys are prepared for this event. They had their proper training for this world-ranking tourney," Arcenal announced.

The tournament starts Wednesday (Thursday morning in Manila) and will end on Sunday.

The RP squad is the third team to be exposed internationally by sponsors Caltex Philippines, Philippine Sports Commission, Pacific Heights and Adidas Phils. this year.

This will be the first time that a Philippine team will be participating in this annual tournament which is billed as one of the toughest tournaments in Europe.

The RP team, whose first stringers have been honing up for the Southeat Asian Games this September in Kuala Lumpur, claimed a bronze through the heroics of Harry Tanamor in the World boxing championship in Belfast.