The 25-year old Tañamor of the Philippine Army easily advanced to the quarterfinal of the 48 kg. Weight (flyweight) by pummeling into submission Sri Lankan Harsha Kumara via a Referee Stopped Contest-Outscored (RSCOS), 25-5, enough reason to give the Filipino contingent, funded here through the efforts of Alaxan FR, Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), Pacific Heights and Accel, something to cheer about.
But the celebration was cut short after Junard Ladon surprisingly lost to Terukado Shoyama of Japan, 20-33, in a 57 kg. (featherweight) bout the Filipino clearly won.
"Hindi kaya nagka-baligtad `yung score," echoed RP coaches George Caliwan and Pat Gaspi when informed of the big disparity in the final score.
For four rounds, Ladon, a native of Bago City, engaged his Japanese rival in a series of vicious, toe-to-toe exchanges, often coming away with the bigger punches and more effective combinations.
To Ladon’s dismay — and the rest of the RP delegation as well — a name that doesn’t sound Filipino was declared the winner after the match.
Pera na, naging bato pa," said an obviously dejected Ladon, a Navy man whose stint in the meet serving as the final Olympic qualifying boxing tournament in Asia was also supported by his superiors Ernesto de Leon, BNS Capt. Francasio Alfonso and Capt. Pablo Acasio.
Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (ABAP) president Manny Lopez also expressed disappointment over the incident, but reminded the two remaining RP pugs — Tañamor and Jennibert Basadre — to just keep their focus for the bigger job ahead.
"I reminded the boys not to lose their focus because we’re still very much in the thick of the fight for a possible berth in the Olympics," Lopez said.
Basadre opened his bid in the 60 kg. class (lightweight) late Saturday afternoon against Dipendra Maharjan of Nepal.
The quarterfinals actually begin today with Tañamor facing a tough Kazakhstan opponent in Abdraimov Nurlan, a 34-16 winner over Malaysian Zamzai Azazi Mhd in the preliminary round.
"Kakayanin natin `yan," said a confident Tañamor, who hails from Zamboanga City.
The lone Filipino gold medalist in the last Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam, Tañamor was simply a class above his Sri Lankan foe, attacking him early with crunching body shots and solid straights to the head.
Tañamor continued to score heavily in the second round when the fight was stopped after the Filipino compiled an insurmountable lead of as many as 20 points.