Vargas hopeful of more Olympics spots

MANILA, Philippines — ABAP chairman Ricky Vargas said yesterday he’s hoping for at least two more Olympic slots from boxing to add to the list of Paris entries Eumir Marcial, Nesthy Petecio and Aira Villegas with Rogen Ladon, Carlo Paalam and Hergie Bacyadan tipped to vie for tickets at the final qualifiers in Bangkok on May 23-June 3. The lineup of fighters for Bangkok will be finalized next week with Mark Ashley Fajardo, Ronald Chavez Jr., John Marvin, Claudine Veloso and Riza Pasuit under evaluation.

“Sana two more,” said Vargas. In the Tokyo Olympics, four boxers represented the Philippines with Marcial claiming a bronze, Paalam and Petecio a silver each and Irish Magno failing to land a podium finish. “Aira was a pleasant surprise and I believe Nesthy was a positive influence on her,” said Vargas. “Ladon, Paalam and Bacyadan will try again. Ladon is in a very competitive weight class (51kg) and just has to out-train and prepare.”

Although Villegas has never bagged a gold in the SEA Games, she was ready to claim a slot at the recent qualifiers in Busto Arsizio, Italy. Villegas, 28, booked a ticket in the 50kg division. “We nominated Aira as an Olympic Solidarity Scholar for this Olympic cycle,” said ABAP secretary-general Marcus Manalo. “We knew she had a very good chance of qualifying. Aira didn’t participate in the last two SEA Games. She missed Vietnam because we sent her to the World Championships instead for a higher level of competition. She was the only boxer we sent and reached the quarters, losing to the eventual gold medalist. Then, she missed Cambodia because she was not fully recovered from a hamstring injury. Then, she didn’t perform at her best at the Asian Games because of another injury. But we knew what she’s capable of accomplishing.”

Paalam was on the way to snag a Paris slot when he hurt his shoulder in a win over Mexico’s Andrey Bonilla and was forced to quit against Turkmenistan’s Shukur Ovezov in his next match at the Italy qualifiers. “It’s an acromioclavicular joint injury, no tear, no fracture so he’ll be good to go for Bangkok,” said Manalo.

Marcial said he expects more to qualify for Paris. “Kita ko puspusan ang ensayo nila at ginagawa talaga ng ABAP ang lahat para mabigyan ng training needs sa lahat ng mga boxers,” he said. Marcial took a bronze in the 75kg middleweight class at the Tokyo Olympics. In Paris, the 75kg division has been scratched. Marcial moved up to the 80kg lightheavyweight category and punched his ticket to Paris with a silver at the Hangzhou Asian Games last year.