Lerio, Tañamor kick off RP bid

PUERTO PRINCESA, Palawan — Veteran Arlan Lerio and Harry Tañamor spearhead a determined RP squad in the 22nd Asian Boxing Championship which fires off today at the Puerto Princesa Coliseum here.

A return trip to the Olympics is foremost in the mind of Lerio while Tañamor hopes to gain a crack at an elusive Olympic gold medal in this week-long event serving as the first of the three qualifiers for Athens, Greece, host to this year’s edition of the Olympic Games

A total of 212 boxers from 29 countries, including war-savaged Iraq and Afghanistan, is set to vie for 24 Olympic slots in 11 weight divisions, including nine host Team Philippines is competing in.

Arriving yesterday were bets from Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Tajikistan and East Timor, which is making its second international stint as a country after participating in the Vietnam Southeast Asian Games last month. Others in the fold are Kazakhstan, Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan, China, North and South Korea, India, Japan and Qatar.

Expected to arrive today are boxers from Chinese Taipei, Iran, Kyrghistan, Mongolia, Syria, Pakistan, Laos, Afghanistan, Brunei, Lebanon and Turkmenistan.

Lerio is a 2000 Sydney Olympics veteran and is out to accomplish what he failed to achieve as a bantamweight as he goes into action in the flyweight class while Tañamor, a silver medallist in the 2002 Busan Asiad and a gold medal winner in the Vietnam SEAG, climbs the ring hoping to carry the fight for the host squad.

Lerio, Tañamor, and the rest of the team arrived in this bustling port city Thursday to prepare for the Asian slugfest, the biggest sporting event in the country this year.

Also on the team were Violito Payla (fly), Junard Ladon (feather), Florencio Ferrer (lightweight), Mark Jason Melligen (lightwelter), Francis Joven (welter), Fil-Am Chris Camat (lightmiddle) and Maraon Golez (middle).

Asian powerhouse Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, which won Olympic golds in Sydney, are the teams to watch while SEAG champion Thailand is also expected to make some waves.

"It’s all systems go," said Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (ABAP) president Manny Lopez.

"We are confident our athletes will give it their best shot and hopefully gain slots to the 2004 Athens Olympics," added Lopez, also the secretary-general of the Federation of Asian Amateur Boxers, the governing boxing body in Asia.

Palawan Gov. Joel Reyes and Puerto Princesa Mayor Edward Hagedorn head the organizing committee with Lopez as vice-chairman of the meet supported by the Philippine Sports Commission, Accel, Revicon and Pacific Heights.

Lopez said Asia is fast becoming a world boxing power after the continent won one third of the 12 gold medals staked in Sydney, two coming from Kazakhstan and one each from Uzbekistan and Thailand.