ABAP rues officiating, targets Rio 2016

INCHEON, South Korea – The officiating was not to the satisfaction of the boxing team, but association president Ricky Vargas is leaving behind the traumatic experience of his boxers as they move on to the largest stage – the 2016 Olympics in Rio, Brazil.

“We could’ve done better but the opportunity didn’t present itself. The boxers did their best but we have to understand the judging style,” said Vargas, who tried to diplomatically downplay the damage the judges inflicted on at least three boxers – light flyweight Mark Anthony Barriga, flyweight Ian Clark Bautista and middleweight Wilfredo Lopez – at the close of the boxing competitions at the Seonhak gymnasium.

With protective gear no longer in use to make bouts more exciting to watch like in pro boxing, the scoring system also was new to veteran judges used to amateur scoring.

There is the must score of 10 points for the winner in every round and points are scored no longer based on shots from the middle (usually the white portion) of the glove. This gives judges the leeway of a judgment call – to determine whether a punch should be scored or not.

Barriga was clearly the player who delivered the solid blows as seen from the slo-mo after each round but he came out the loser in each.

During the press conference, Barriga appeared unscathed while Korean Shin Jonhun still had a black eye and bruises from both cheeks from the semifinal bout.

“The judging is not under our control, at least we played fair and square. I played well and I’m really surprised at the 3-0 verdict,” said Barriga in Filipino. “Anyway, I’ll take that loss.”

Bautista won the first round over his foe from Bhutan but lost in the second round to another Korean, Choe Sangdon, who however did not have the credentials to go farther than the semifinal.

Suarez wept after the bout over what he and his coaches believed to be a clear victory.

The third bout involved Lopez, who was the more aggressive and landed more punches than Jordan’s Alhindawi Odai Riyad Adel but lost in a split decision, 29-28, 28-29, 28-29.

The controversial officiating, which favored Korean boxers, became the butt of complaints from countries like India and Thailand, which had also lost to Koreans.

Thailand, which lost eight of its nine entries as early as the first round – to Koreans and one to Filipino Charly Suarez – made sure it won the only gold medal bout for Thailand between Masuk Wuttichai and Korean Lim Hyunchul.

The Thai, coached by nine-time national mentor Omar Puentes Malagon, clobbered the Korean to win the match beyond reasonable doubt but he still won by a mere split, 2-1.

An Indian girl, who lost in the semifinal to a Korean, returned the bronze medal to the Korean champion during the awarding ceremonies, saying she couldn’t bring a bronze to her country.

Still, boxing official Pato Gregorio said the boxers’ performance of one silver and three bronze medals was good enough.

“That’s not bad, considering that it’s difficult to win here,” he said matter-of-factly.

“There were fights that were taken away from them. But we have to move on. Our boxers here will be trained again for Rio and we will produce young boxers (from our boxing program) so we can send many boxers to the Olympics,” said Vargas.

The very first thing the new set of ABAP officials did when they took over from Manny Lopez in 2010 was to make a courtesy call on AIBA, specifically to inquire about the worldwide problem of officiating. They realize it’s a recurring problem.

Notwithstanding the poor officiating in AIBA, Vargas said winning a gold in the Olympics remains a realistic goal.

“You can’t control the officiating but it’s worth the try, not for me but for the boxers who are there, who continue to hope that their lives will be enriched by winning the Olympic gold,” he said, referring to incentives of P2.5 million from the government and a counterpart from the boxing association.

With the triumvirate of Manny V. Pangilinan, Vargas and Gregorio, the goal could be reached in Rio.

With or without poor officiating.