Barriga gallant stand falls short

LONDON – Mark Anthony Barriga blew an impressive second round performance as he faded in a no-holds-barred third round exchanges to lose by the thinnest of margins, 17-16, in his Round of 16 match with Kazakhtan’s Birzhan Zhakypov in boxing competition in the Olympic Games last night.

But the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines later filed a protest disputing the outcome of the bout.

The gutsy Barriga recovered from one-point deficit in the first round with an all-out attack in the second where he seized the initiative and posted a 6-3 running score to move up by two points heading to the final round of their action-packed light flyweight showdown at the ExCel South Arena here.

But Zhakypov, sensing he was behind on points, unleashed a swarming attack and put the pressure on the diminutive Filipino, who held his ground in torrid exchanges until he found himself spent in the middle of the round. Then they started hitting the deck as the two fighters wrestled at center time and again to buy for time and draw second wind.

Thus, the best hope for a medal for the lean Team Philippines vanished into thin London air and sent the nation back home ruing the loss but proud of Barriga’s gallant stand.

It was a bitter setback for the sturdy youth from Panabo, Davao del Norte, who gamely engaged Zhakypov in another series of exchanges but looked visibly spent midway in the closing round and was slapped by Canadian referee Labie Roland with a penalty for a headbutt in the middle of the round.

That meant a two-point addition to the score of the Kazakh, who went on to win the match and a seat in the quaterfinal with a one-point margin.

Barriga, who had hoped to become the first Filipino quarterfinalist in Olympic boxing in 16 years, also gained one point for Zhakypov’s head-butt later in the final round.

The 5-foot hard-hitting Barriga, known as Little Pacman in the Games, beat the tall Zhakypov to the punch in the first three minutes but the Kazakh scored in a flurry in one instance and pulled off a 5-4 score at the end of the round.

But the 19-year-old Barriga waged a decisive fightback in the second round, punishing Zhakypov with razor-sharp combination to totally outclass the Kazakh and the Filipino’s wrested a 10-8 margin heading to the final round.

The Kazakh’s close victory came after his 18-17 win in his first round match with Frenchman Jeremy Beccu, who protested the outcome. Another Kazakh, Gani Zhailauv, won over Thai Saylom Ardee in the tiebreaker after a 12-12 draw in their lightweight match. The Thai coach protested the result to no avail.

Filipino officials could only sit in silence as the judge announced the result, which gave the Kazakh the second seat in the quarterfinals against first qualifier Zhou Shimming, the Olympic and world champion who dispensed with Cuban Veitia Soto Yosbany, 14-11.

In a battle of southpaws, Barriga tried to go for the body but could not land solid shots against the taller Kazakh. He trailed 4-5 on the judges score in the first round.

In the second round, he went for the head with right hook and left straight against Zhakypov who was also effective with his jab. Barriga led, 6-3, in the round.

Overeager to cut down the deficit, the Kazakh played aggressively, albeit dirtily, wrestling Barriga to the ground twice. At the first instance, the referee slapped Barriga with a two-point penalty. In the second, he gave both a penalty.

The Kazakh pounded Barriga with left right combination, probably thinking he was still behind, but Barriga fought the Kazakh power with power, shot for shot until the bell rang.

In a battle of “champions,” Shimming dominated all rounds but Soto, who never advanced to the gold medal round in an international competition, came up aggressively in the third round, connecting with a flurry of shots.

But Shimming stood his ground, controlling the tempo all throughout while erupting with his uppercut-straight combinations that almost always caught the Cuban.

He landed a big right straight that jarred the Cuban for a mandatory standing 8-count in the last one minute of the duel.

Still the Cuban tried everything in his power to score a reversal, but the Chinese was as aggressive and went on to post the victory.

The round of 16 loss became a big blow to the Philippine campaign which has only three more bets left standing. They are BMX cyclist Danny Caluag and track and field stars Marestella Torres in the long jump and Rene Herrera in the 5,000 meters.

All three enter the battlefield on Aug. 8 in separate venues inside the Olympic Park. Caluag debuts in the Olympics in the BMX event which starts with the seeding on Aug. 8. Marestella and Herrera start their bid the same day on the tracks and oval of the Olympic stadiium.