Pinoys to unravel novel tactic

BUSAN, South Korea — Filipino boxers believe they can spin their way to a win in the ring at the Asian Games.

The squad has adopted a novel technique which they claim helps their resistance to the flurry of punches they face in each bout.

It involves a fighter planting his index finger onto the canvas and then running around it as fast as possible.

The little-known training idea is one of boxing’s coping mechanisms, designed to counter the centrifugal forces of disorientation and help avoid becoming punch-drunk.

"You do that to avoid getting groggy when you get hit," Filipino coach Gregorio Caliwan told AFP.

It is one technique the Philippines team is practising seriously at the Busan Games as the once-mighty Asian boxing powers face up to the vastly improved regional competition, spiced up by the powerhouse ex-Soviet republics and foreign coaching from the once lesser powers.

Filipino middleweight Maraon Goles claims he can run around his finger for about a minute before he gets totally disoriented. He also said he is better at it than any of his seven teammates.

"I have never been knocked down," said the 21 year-old southpaw from the central Philippines city of Mandaue who was turned on to the sport by his uncle and older brother seven years ago.

"But I got groggy once," he added as the team prepared for the boxing tournament which gets underway on Wednesday.

From three boxing golds at the Hiroshima Asiad in 1994, the Philippines were shut out by rivals Thailand at the Bangkok Games four years ago.

The Sydney Olympics campaign was also a washout.

Even at the less prestigious Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur last year, the Filipinos flopped, failing to win any medal.

"The boys lacked conditioning then," said Caliwan.

Goles, the least experienced of the eight-member team, was part of that earlier, hapless outfit - a Thai rival put him out of his misery in the first round.

"I only had a month to practice back then," said Goles, who lists former World Boxing Council junior bantamweight champion Gerry Penalosa, who also hails from the central Philippines, as his hero.

"I used most of the run-up to apply for a passport."

He fared better at a North Korean international invitational in Pyongyang in July, pummelling a North Korean opponent to bring home the Philippines’ only gold.

Caliwan says the Philippines came to Busan better prepared this time.

Most of the Kuala Lumpur squad have since retired or failed to qualify, while the present team having fought as far as Finland, Greece and Bosnia in the months prior to the Games to ensure they reached Busan in peak condition. (AFP)