Philippine pugs brace for tough bouts

BANGKOK – In an unoccupied section of the hotel’s multi-level parking lot, safe from the prying eyes of the opposition, the Filipino boxers held an intense workout early Saturday afternoon.

Light-fly Rogen Ladon, bantamweight Mario Fernandez and welterweight Eumir Felix Marcial sweated it out before their seasoned coaches, ahead of Sunday’s crucial matches at the spacious Thammasat University Gymnasium.

The round-of-16 in the ASBC Asian Boxing Championships could determine whether the Filipino boxers here will make it to the World Championships in Qatar in October.

It will make or break their chances.

Ladon, the quiet type, will face Rakhmankul Avatov of Kyrgysztan. It will be his first bout in this event offering tickets to the Doha meet on Oct. 5-15.

Fernandez, back-to-back gold medalist in the SEA Games, will lock horns with top seed Kairat Yeraliyev of Kazakhstan while Marcial, also the reigning SEA Games champion, battles second seed Israil Madrimov of Uzbekistan.

It will be the second meeting between Fernandez and Yeraliyev since 2013. In their first meeting, in Jordan, Yeraliyev won on points.

“I remember winning the first round of that fight but lost on points. I will do better this time,” said Fernandez who, like Marcial, handily won his opening assignment in this spicy Thai capital.

Lightweight Charly Suarez, the most experienced among the five Pinoy boxers here, was to face Kazakhstan’s Zakir Safiullin in one of Saturday’s evening matches.

Because Suarez’ bout was set late at night, the coaching staff of Pat Gaspi, Boy Velasco and Reynaldo Galido ordered the other boxers to stay in the hotel.

A victory for Suarez, the No. 2 seed in the 60 kg class, will push him to the quarterfinals, and closer to a slot in the World Championships.

Flyweight Ian Clark Bautista, also a gold medalist in the SEA Games last June, has yet to see action. On Monday he goes up against Vietnam’s Trong Tai Bui.

The top six or seven boxers in each division, depending on the number of entries, will advance to the Doha event where slots to the 2016 Rio Olympics will be up for grabs.

After the World Championships, there will be a couple more Olympic qualifiers for Asian boxers. But it only gets tougher.

“We might as well get there early. The mission here is to qualify to Doha and from there make it to the Olympics,” said Ed Picson, executive director of the Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines.

Picson, member of the competitions commission of the ASBC (Asian Boxing Confederation) is confident that the Filipino boxers can make it.

“If they can only sustain the aggressiveness inside the ring, there should be no problem. They need to be in control of the fight from start to finish. That’s how it is in amateur boxing,” he said.

“The order from our ABAP president (Ricky Vargas) is very clear, and that is to qualify as many boxers to the Olympics. If we can send three, four or five boxers there then we will be happy,” added Picson.