Laguna loses steam, bows to seasoned Thai rival

BUSAN — Another one bites the dust.

The Philippines lost a third man in the boxing competitions of the 14th Asian Games Sunday when featherweight Roel Laguna bowed to his Thai opponent, 18-11, at the faraway Masan Gymnasium here.

"Talo talaga." We lost and there are no excuses," said RP amateur boxing chief Manny Lopez after the fight.

"Parang nawala sa isip ang bata natin. Napako sa onse. Pero di bale, solid ang lima nating natitira," he added.

Of course, everything’s not lost for the RP boxers, also known as Team Caltex, with lightfly Harry Tanamor, flyweight Violito Payla and lightwelter Romeo Brin safe in the quarterfinals and one win away from the bronze.

Two other RP pugs have yet to see action. Lightweight Anthony Igusquiza, a bronze medalist in the 1994 Hiroshima Asian Games, will debut Monday against a Syrian boxer while middleweight Maraon Goles, after drawing a bye, climbs the ring against a Pakistani on Wednesday with a semis slot at stake.

Also seeing action Monday is Payla, who defeated a gritty fighter from Uzbekistan the other day. This time, he will go for the bronze against Pakistan’s Abid Ali who stunned Kazakhstan’s Berik Tulashbay the other day.

"Magaling din. May dunong din. Pero mukhang kaya ni Payla kaya ang instruction, kung kaya ilayo di ilayo na," said Lopez of Payla’s opponent Monday.

In his Asian Games debut, the 22-year-old Laguna came out strong and fought a good, clean fight in the first three rounds, even taking an 11-10 edge over Suthisar Samaksaman going into the last round.

But suddenly everything went wrong for the Filipino fighter as he failed to score until the final bell. The Thai, a former Muay Thai practitioner, piled up the points and in fact scored on three punches in the first 30 seconds of the final round.

Also a first-timer in the Asian Games, Suthisar scored heavily with his long left straight and at one point pinned Laguna on the ropes just near the red Filipino corner.

The Thai boxer took the opening round, 3-2, and worked his way for an 8-8 count after the second.

Clearly, Laguna was a spent fighter in the end while his opponent, still bouncing on his feet, looked like he could go another round or two.

Bantamweight Ferdie Gamo was the first casualty and was followed by Fil-American lightmiddleweight Chris Camat.