Barriga, 3 more Pinoy pugs enter semis

INCHEON, South Korea -- Four Filipino boxers led by Olympian Mark Anthony Barriga are already assured of bronze as they advanced to semis of the men's boxing competitions in the 17th Asian Games at Seonhak Gymnasium here.

Barriga hammered out a split decision against Uzbekistan's Hasanboy Dusmatov in the light flyweight division to barge into semis against a Korean pug.

The Canadian and Italian judges gave the fight to Barriga in an identical 29-28 score card while the Korean judge gave it to the Dusmatov, who only awarded the second round to the Filipino boxer.

"Medyo nahirapan ako sa first round pero nag-adjust ako ng strategy start ng second round," Barriga later told reporters after the match.

"Mabigat ang kalaban ko sa semis lalo Korean pero mag-iiba ulit ako ng strategy," Barriga added.

Earlier, Bantamweight Mario Fernandez won a unanimous victory over India's Shiva Thapa while Wilfredo Lopez scored a TKO (Technical Knockout) Shinebayar Narmandakh of Mongolia in their middleweight bout.

The stoppage came at 2:05 mark of the first round.

The trio joined early semifinalist Charly Suarez, who hammered out a unanimous decision over Jordan's Ammar Jabbar Hassan last Monday.