BANGKOK – Odds will be heavily stacked on Thai ace Worapoj Petchkoom when he slugs it out with Joan Tipon for a berth in the Olympic berth in the semifinal round of the bantamweight division here Friday.
Petchkoom, 26, has beaten the lone Filipino standing in the first AIBA Asian Boxing Olympic Qualifying tournament the last time they met in the World Championships in Chicago, pulling off a 13-5 decision in the first round.
And with the crowd at the Dhurakij Punjit University expected to fire up the former Olympic silver medallist all the more, Tipon will have to outdo himself to stop his arch rival and realize a dream Olympic stint.
“I expect to win,” said Petchkoom, who dropped by at the fight venue yesterday while Tipon used the first of the three-day break training at the Thai-Japan boxing gym.
“I’m feeling good, no problem,” said Petchkoom. “But I want to be in my best shape and form by Friday.”
Petchkoom enjoys a 2-1 edge in their head-to-head duel with the Filipino champion, winning in their first faceoff in the 2003 SEA Games in Vietnam.
But Tipon nipped Petchkoom in a thrilling semifinal encounter in the Asian Games in Doha in 2006, winning via tiebreak before demolishing Korean Han Soon Chul to capture the gold medal.
However, Tipon went on a slump after that Asiad triumph, losing in the national championship before yielding to Petchkoom in the world tilt last November.
But Tipon has improved a lot the last two months and his two victories leading to Friday’s crucial match underscored his readiness to take on perhaps the most feared fighter in the 54-kg division.
“The plan is to have him seize the initiative and dictate the tempo,” said coach Pat Gaspi.
“I will prepare hard for this and I hope not only to beat him but win the gold,” said Tipon.
Only Tipon remains in the five-man RP Smart-PLDT boxing team after flyweight Violito Payla, featherweight Orlando Tacuyan Jr., lightweight Genebert Basadre and lightwelter Adam Fiel fell one after the other. – Dante Navarro