Last man standing in Budapest boxing

MANILA, Philippines — While the Philippines battles in the Asian Games, a small Filipino contingent of four is in Budapest for the AIBA World Youth Championships where 359 fighters from 65 countries are vying for honors in 10 weight categories each for men and women at the 5,000-seat Dunn Arena. 

Only flyweight Milenino Anduyan and bantamweight Criztian e survived the preliminaries while lightflyweight Criz Russu Laurente and women’s flyweight Jima Baja were bundled out in their first bouts. Anduyan, however, failed to go beyond the second round, losing a close 3-2 decision to Morocco’s Bader Berhili, but Pitt Laurente pulled through and will face Iran’s Daniyal Shahbakhsh in the quarterfinals today. If Pitt beats Shahbakhsh, he advances to the semifinals on Tuesday and is guaranteed a bronze.

Coaches Pat Gaspi and Elias Recaido are with the team in Hungary. ABAP executive director Ed Picson said every fighter had to qualify to make it the World Youth Championships. It’s a bigger competition than in the Asian Games where there are 194 fighters from 31 countries competing in seven divisions for men and only three for women.

Anduyan’s defeat to Berhili was a heartbreaker. Anduyan, 18, looked impressive in his debut, carving out a 4-1 decision over hometowner Tamas Borsos. Against Berhili, he wasn’t as convincing but came close to scoring a win. Two judges, Mikhail Shashkov of Russia and Antonio Acija of Uganda, had it 29-28, both for Anduyan. But three other judges saw it the other way as Kam Naklam of Thailand and James Beckles of Trinidad and Tobago scored it 29-28 and Seyed Ali Jafari of Iran, 30-27, for Berhili. 

Anduyan, whose idol is Nonito Donaire, Jr., took the Batang Pinoy gold medal in 2015 and went to the semifinals of the Asean Youth Championships in Saraburi, Thailand, last year. The Tacloban teener qualified for Budapest by finishing sixth at the Asian Youth Championships in Bangkok last April.

Baja, the Philippines’ only female qualifier, crashed out in a heap. Korean Kim Chae Won stopped the Cagayan de Oro fighter at 2:59 of the first round. Russu Laurente also bowed out in his first outing, dropping a 5-0 decision to Thailand’s Thitisan Panmod with all five judges scoring it 29-26.

So now, the Philippines’ medal hopes rest squarely on Pitt Laurente’s shoulders. The two-time Palarong Pambansa gold medalist from General Santos City got off to a rousing start by decisioning Kyrgyzstan’s Sanzhai Seidekmatov, 4-1 then clinched a seat in the quarterfinals vi a 4-0 verdict over India’s Akash Kumar. Four judges scored it for Laurente as Hichem Menchaoui of Tunisia, Dmytro Lazarev of Ukraine, Yu Ling Chang of Chinese-Taipei and Wilfredo Vazquez of Cuba saw it 29-27. Judge Josef Cser of Austria had it a draw, 28-all.

Laurente booked a ticket to Budapest after bagging a silver at the Asian Youth Championships in Bangkok this year, losing to Uzbekistan’s Abdumalik Khalokov in the final. On the way to the gold medal match, he disposed of fighters from Japan, Afghanistan, Cambodia and Thailand. In 2016, Laurente took the gold at the Children of Asia Championships in Yakutsk, Russia, beating Kazakhstan’s Sulchar Taltibek in the final after eliminating three Russian fighters in a row. A win over Shahbaksh, a quarterfinalist in the recent Asian Youth Championships, will assure Laurente a podium finish in Hungary.