Lerio, looking to improve his silver-medal finish as a flyweight in Brunei, got a shot at a return stint in the finals as a bantam as he punished Indon Dufri Masihor with barrages of punches for a 23-9 victory.
Galido, also a former SEAG silver medallist whose best claim to fame was a gold medal in the Hiroshima Asiad, outperformed Lerio later as he sent Myanmar’s Aung Kyaw Kyaw to submission in the second round of their welterweight bout.
Lerio and Galido joined five teammates in the semifinals, including featherweight Ramil Zambales who drew opening-round bye, as Team Caltex Philippines assured itself of at least seven bronzes, keeping a mathematical chance at the overall championship.
Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines president Manny Lopez, however, admitted they face a tough task in unseating defending champion Thailand which kept an intact 11-man lineup after the quarterfinals.
"Thailand is really stronger but the important thing is we stay at second as what happened in Brunei where we cornered all the golds at stake. They got nine there and we got two," said Lopez.
Manon Boonjumnong also halted Cambodian Ath Sam Reth to set up a semifinal duel with Galido. Bantamweight Chotipat Wongprates made it 11-for-11 for the Thais with a 16-3 victory over Laos’ Chanthasone Yayalak.
Lerio and Wongprates may well see each other in the finals as they face Myanmar’s Aung Tun Lin and Malaysia’s Jaiwat Yamun, respectively. Aung drew first-round bye while Yamun outpointed Mean Soeun of Cambodia, 18-3.
The other Filipino pugs who made past the quarterfinals were flyweight Violito Payla, lightweight Larry Semillano, lightwelterweight Romeo Brin and middlweight Maximo Tabangcora. Out after the opening round were deposed pinweight champion Juanito Magliquian, light flyweight Harry Tanamor, light middlweight Junie Tizon and light heavyweight Maraon Goles. (nelson beltran)