Igusquiza stops local pug; Laguna, Palicte bow out

KUANAS, Lithuania — Lightweight Anthony Igusquiza launched his killer punch in the second round to stop Danas Peciukonis of Lithuania as Team Caltex Philippines assured itself of at least four bronze medals Thursday heading into the semifinals of the sixth Algirdas Socikas International Boxing Championships here.

Igusquiza, from Malinao, Aklan, completely dominated the fight with his solid straights that found their mark on the face of the Lithuanian to win via a Referee-Stopped Contest (RES-Retired) at the end of the second period.

The sensational win which saw the 25-year-old Army man take an unbridgeable 10-point lead in the second round before the bout was stopped by the Lithuanian corner, made up for the loss of featherweight Roel Laguna and bantamweight Vincent Palicte in the quarterfinals.

Laguna lost to fleet-footed Russian Alexei Titchchenko, 12-20, in the Filipinos’ first quarterfinal bout in the three-day tournament among 16 national teams.

Palicte, still nursing a swollen wrist, was ahead by three points after the first round and was up by four in the next when his left wrist, injured after the Helsinki tournament three days earlier, began to hurt.

Igusquiza advances to Friday’s semifinals where lightflyweight Harry Tanamor, flyweight Violito Payla and lightwelterweight Romeo Brin drew a bye.

"We’re on track," said boxing head Manny Lopez. "We didn’t expect much from Palicte because he had an injury. Expect a lot of action in the semifinals because our boys will be up against strong opponents."

The Filipinos’ participation, sponsored by Caltex Philippines and supported by the Philippine Sports Commission, Pacific Heights and Revicon, is part of six their-month buildup for the Asian Games in September.

Igusquiza, 25, piled up points with 1-2 combinations and took the daylight out of the Lithuanian with a hard straight for a mandatory eight-count in the second round.

Igusquiza moved in for the kill and made a punching bag out of the Lithuanian as he increased his lead to 10 points, forcing the Lithuanian coach to signal to the referee to stop the fight before the start of the third round.

Palicte looked impressive in the first round as he led his Lithuanian rival by three points. His lead increased to five after the second round before his left wrist started to hurt. He fought with his right hand and his opponent, sensing there was no sting in Palicte’s left punch, went on the offensive to win the bout, 20-13.

National coach Nolito "Boy" Velasco said the injury will have to be examined and treated before he could fight again.

Igusquiza advances to the semis against a taller Russian, Evgeni Mystov, who crushed Bulgaria’s Henrik Andersen, 15-5.

Tanamor, gold medal winner in the Chowdry Cup in Azerbaijian last month, moves back t his original weight division, the lightflyweight, but he will be fighting Redouane Asloum of France with a wrist injury which has not completely healed.

Payla, who won the flyweight gold over Tanamor in Helsinki three days ago, meets Latvia’s Stanislav Jevgenis.

Brin collides with German Guido Ringman in the lightwelterweight division.