Gabuco beats world champ, makes final

MANILA, Philippines - Josie Gabuco of Palawan silenced the hometown crowd as she pulled off a shock win over London Olympics silver medalist and three-time world champion Ren Candan to advance to the finals in the China Open in Guiyang, China Wednesday.

Gabuco, the reigning 48kg world champion fighting in the flyweight (51kg) class, surprised the fancied Chinese policewoman with her speed and agility, scoring on combinations to win their closely fought match. 

All three judges scored it for the 26-year-old Gabuco, one of the spearheads of Team PLDT ABAP.

Nesthy Petecio likewise slew a Chinese rival in Liu Chang, the reigning lightweight national champion of China, peppering her taller opponent with power hooks and uppercuts. It was a majority decision with two judges giving it to the Davaoeña, 40-36 and 39-37, while the Indonesian judge saw it for Liu, 39-37.

London Olympian Mark Anthony Barriga again relied on his guile and footwork to thwart India’s Naveen Kumar, a silver medalist in the 2011 world junior championships, to post the first win in the Filipino men’s side, which suffered two stinging losses in the opening day.

Barriga, 20, beat Kumar, 2-1, on scores of 30-26, 28-29 and 30-27.

Nico Magliquian of Talisay, Negros Occidental, however, fell to Ajay Kumar, also of India, losing steam in the third round to absorb a 1-2 defeat.

Junel Cantancio, meanwhile, dominated Mauritian Colin John with all three judges scoring it identically, 28-25 for the Philippine Air Force airman.

Gabuco and Petecio take on Xu Shiqi of China and New Zealand’s Alexis Pritchard, respectively, in tonight’s finals.

In the men’s semis, Barriga fights Chinese Xu Chao while Cantancio duels with another formidable Chinese boxer, Wang Bo. 

“Let’s take this all the way to the world championships, the SEA Games and beyond,” said ABAP president Ricky Vargas.