Bloodied Basadre overpowered in loss

MILAN – The end of the road came sadly for lightwelterweight Genebert Basadre who struck out of contention in losing a 10-3 decision to two-time Olympian Myke Carvaho of Brazil in the second round of preliminaries at the 15th AIBA World Boxing Championships in the Mediolanum Forum here Friday night.

The defeat left the Philippines with still three fighters standing in the 12-day competitions that brought in 554 contenders from 133 countries. Lightflyweight Harry Tañamor and bantamweight Joan Tipon were scheduled to fight yesterday while featherweight Charly Suarez takes on 5-11 Joo Min Jae of South Korea today. The first Filipino to be eliminated was lightweight Joegin Ladon who fell to England’s Thomas Stalker last Wednesday.

Basadre, 25, appeared to be intimidated by the power-punching Brazilian and fought defensively, leaving his offense in the gym. Carvaho walked through Basadre’s power-puff jabs, delivered jarring blows to the head and was in total control from the start.

Basadre admitted he was hurt by Carvaho’s bombs. “I couldn’t see where his punches were coming from,” he confessed. “I was covering up but when I thought he was off-balance, he would hit me with hard uppercuts.”

Still, Carvaho couldn’t pull away in the first round and had only a 3-1 lead after three minutes. Then, the roof caved in on Basadre. Carvaho chalked up three straight points within 10 seconds to open a 7-1 cushion and left Basadre bleeding badly from the nose late in the second round.

Belarus referee Siarhei Asanau called in the ringside physician to check on Basadre with 11 seconds left in the second. Basadre was cleared to continue. Carvaho bloodied Basadre’s nose some more in the third, prompting Asanau to call in the doctor once again. After another clearance, Basadre desperately tried to go for a knockout, whaling away with haymakers, as Carvaho sidestepped his way out of trouble.

In a wild rush, Basadre spun around after missing Carvaho completely with a roundhouse right. Going for broke, Basadre unleashed a sidewinder that landed on the side of Carvaho’s beltline and the Brazilian turned his back, claiming a foul blow. Asanau gave Carvaho a standing eight-count but no point was scored for Basadre. If Carvaho refused to continue, he would’ve lost by retirement. But the Brazilian knew better. He survived Basadre’s final assault to win, 10-3.

“I didn’t want it to end,” said Basadre who was led to a clinic after the fight for a check-up. “I wanted to get back at him for banging me up. He really hurt me. His style confused me.”

Doctors later said Basadre suffered no major damage in his nose.

National coach Pat Gaspi said Basadre could’ve showed more spirit.

“Kulang pa,” sighed Gaspi. “He covered up so much that he couldn’t see Carvaho’s punches, like his eyes were covered, too. After he got hurt, he lost his will to win. It’s not an excuse but I think he couldn’t hurt Carvaho because he had little power in his right hand.”

Gaspi said Basadre’s right hand swelled after he beat Pakistan’s Aamir Khan in his first outing here last Tuesday. The hand was iced to reduce the swelling and carefully wrapped for the fight against Carvaho. There was residual pain but Basadre never complained.

Carvaho, 25, saw action at the Athens and Beijing Olympics. He is fighting in his third World Championships. His coach said beating Basadre was easy because the Filipino was thoroughly scouted.

“We knew what to expect because we watched his fight against Khan,” said the Brazilian coach. “We saw his flaws, like dropping his left after a jab. We studied his movements. Basadre’s a good fighter. But our boy was just too experienced. We were prepared for whatever Basadre would do.”

Carvaho has a colored tattoo of the Brazilian flag and the emblem of his home state Parra on his left shoulder. In his first fight here, Carvaho barely defeated India’s Manoj Kumar, 5-4.

Basadre bagged a silver medal at the King’s Cup in Bangkok last April and won the gold at the Southeast Asian Games in 2005. He also pocketed a bronze medal at the 2006 Doha Asian Games. But the Cagayan de Oro native’s performance against Carvaho showed that if he hopes to ever qualify for the Olympics, his heart has to be a lot bigger.