More London berths eyed

MANILA, Philippines - The national men’s and women’s teams go all-out in their up buildup for the tough Olympic qualifiers in Thailand, slugging it out with their Thai counterparts at the new National Sports Training Center in Muaklek, about 150 km north of Bangkok.

ABAP executive director Ed Picson describes the center as a “sprawling facility far from the distractions and pollution of the city.”

“ It is conducive to focused training. The boxing facilities are more than adequate. There is a track for road runs and another for sprints. The weights room is state of the art and the accommodations, although basic, are clean, spacious and comfortable. The food is also nutritious,” said Picson. 

To date only one Filipino boxer has made it to the London Games – light flyweight Mark Anthony Barriga who qualified in the World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan late last year. ABAP hopes to get more boxers to London via the Asian qualifiers for men and women.

 The national boxers under the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines and sponsored by PLDT are gearing up for the April 4-13 qualifiers in Astana, Kazakhstan. The men will go directly from Thailand to Astana on March 24 for acclimatization and also training with the Kazakhstan national team.

 Picson says those performing well are World Series of Boxing sensation Charly Suarez, Asian Games gold medalist Rey Saludar and 2011 SEA Games gold medalist Dennis Galvan.

 “But there are seven more boxers here and you never know who else will step up,” said Picson.

 The women are bannered by veterans Josie Gabuco, Alice Kate Aparri and Nesthy Petecio.

 The women will head for colder climes as they depart for Ulanbataar, Mongolia for the Asian Women’s Championships. Although this is not yet their Olympic qualifier, it will determine who among the Filipinas will compete in the Asian Women’s qualifiers in May in Qinhuangdao, China.

“We are going all out in our attempts to get more boxers to London. We thank our chairman Mr. Manny V. Pangilinan and PLDT for making all these opportunities available to our national boxers,” said ABAP president Ricky Vargas.