Tipon 3rd Pinoy finalist in Czech slugfest

Bantamweight Joan Tipon assured RP-Smart boxing team of its third silver medal after thumping a hard-fighting Norbert Kalutzca of Hungary, 19-6, in the semifinal round of the Ostrava Grand Prix Sunday at the Czech Republic.

Tipon, one of the country’s brightest hopes for a medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, guns for the gold against another Hungarian rival in David Oltvanyi on Monday.

The sweet-punching Oltvanyi nipped Russian favorite Evgeny Volkov, 9-8.

Tipon, thus, joined light-flyweight Harry Tañamor and flyweight Violito Payla in the finals of this week-long slugfest featuring the leading boxers from Asia and Europe and serving as the RP fighters’ buildup for the World Championships set next month in Chicago.

Tañamor, a two-time Olympian, trades punches with Russian Vadian Idigeshev, while Payla meets another Russian in Evgeny Ermakov for the gold.

Genebert Basadre, however, failed in his bid as he bowed to Totz Laszlo of Hungary, 21-30, in the semifinal round of the lightweight division. Basadre settled for the bronze.

Laszlo used his superior footwork to advance to the finals against Russian Anton Ryzhikov.

‘‘Our boxers are going up against the favorites. Let’s see what happens because our boxers are ready,’’ said head coach Patricio Gaspi in an overseas call to Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines president Manny Lopez. 

The Ostrava GP is a warm-up for the nationals as they prepare for the AIBA World Boxing Championships, which drew a record 114 countries, slated later next month in Chicago, Illinois.

Lopez said the ABAP is sending the same team to Chicago, which is a qualifier for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.