The RP team has never won the boxing overall crown again since copping eight golds in the 1991 staging of the biennial games in Manila but team officials are convinced they have a great chance at winning back the title this year.
"First and foremost, we’re playing on neutral ground and secondly, iyung magagaling ng Thailand kumupas na," said Gregorio Caliwan, the new RP team head tactician taking over Cuban coach Raul Fernandez Liranza.
Backstopped by Nolito "Boy" Velasco, Glicerio "Boy" Catolico Jr. and Pat Gaspi, Caliwan thinks he has gold medal prospects in nine of their 11 fighters in the Caltex Philippines-sponsored team, including reigning title holders Juanito Magliquian Jr. (pinweight) and Romeo Brin (light welterweight).
The RP coaching staff also have high hopes on lightflyweight Harry Tanamor, flyweight Violito Payla, bantamweight Arlan Lerio, featherweight Ramil Zambales, lightweight Larry Semillano, welterweight Reynaldo Galido and light heavyweight Maraon Goles. The other members of the team are light middleweight Junie Tizon and middleweight Maximo Tabangcora III.
Tanamor, from Zamboanga, and Payla, from Cagayan de Oro, will see action only in their first SEAG competition yet they’re considered as top gold medal prospects because of their impressive showing in international campaigns early this year.
Ranged against world-rated fighters in the Balado and Cordova Cardin Cups in Cuba, Payla measured up to the challenge, snatching the gold in the first competition and winning the bronze in the second joust.
Tanamor, meanwhile, seized the spotlight in the World Amateur Boxing Championships in Belfast, Ireland as he won a bronze medal.
With the support of Caltex Philippines, the team competed in various international tournaments as part of its preparation for the SEA Games. "Their participation in various international competitions has prepared the boys well for the Southeast Asian Games. They have shown that they can match up with the best boxing talents in the world and dominate the amateur boxing competitions this side of the globe," said Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (ABAP) president Manny Lopez.
Lopez described the team as a mix of youth and experience which could well give the Thais a tough battle for the overall crown this time.
After losing the overall crown to Thailand in the 1993 Singapore Games while settling for only five golds through Isidro Vicera, Arlo Chavez, Mansueto "Onyok" Velasco Jr. and Elias Recaido Jr., the team fared even worse in the next three games, winning only one gold each in Chang Mai (1995) and Jakarta (1997) and two in Brunei (1999).
"Malaki ang tsansang mabago ang takbo ng laban. We’re playing in a neutral ground, medyo humina na ang Thai team at ang team natin maganda ang kondisyon physically and mentally. Noong panahon kasi ni coach Raul (Liranza), maganda ang kondisyon ng team physically but not mentally. Makita pa lang kasi ng mga boxers si coach Raul, takot na. Ang impresyon nila papahirapan sila ng husto," said Gaspi, referring to the Cuban coach who used to handle the team.