No X’mas break for boxers

Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (ABAP) president Ed Picson said yesterday there will be no Christmas break for the national boxing pool although the fighters are now on a three-week rest before reporting back to camp on Dec. 5. The calendar is loading up for next year as Picson said the team is getting ready for the SEA Games, Asian Games and Olympic qualifiers.

At the moment, six boxers are in La Nucia, Alicante, Spain for the IBA World Youth Championships in the 17-18 age category. They are 48 kg Ronel Suyom, 17; 51 kg John Vicera, 18; 54 kg Eljay Pamisa, 18; 57 kg John Paul Napoles, 17; 60 kg Crisaldy Beltran, 18; and 63.5 kg Mark Ashley Fajardo, 18. Two won and four lost in their first bouts. Suyom defeated Bulgaria’s Stefanov Krasenov, 5-0, while Pamisa outpointed Turkey’s Ahmet Pekel, 4-1. Beltran bowed to Guatemala’s Javier Guiardado, 5-0; Fajardo was decisioned by USA’s Deshawn Crocklem, 5-0; Vicera was ousted by Cuba’s Andres Marin, 5-0, and Napoles was eliminated by Australia’s Craig Isaacs, 4-1.

ABAP secretary-general Marcus Manalo said the senior team plans to join the U22 Asian Championships in January, a Bulgarian meet in February, Thailand Open in March or April, SEA Games in May, a tournament in the Netherlands or Greece or both in June and July, a China camp being organized by coach Don Abnett, Asian Games in September and World Combat Games in Saudi Arabia in October. Three competitions are set as Olympic qualifiers with the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China on Sept. 23 to Oct. 8 the first in the series. There will be two world qualifiers to round out the final list of boxers for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Manalo said several boxers are lined up to battle in the Olympic qualifiers. Leading the charge are Tokyo Olympic silver medalists Carlo Paalam and Nesthy Petecio and bronze medalist Eumir Marcial. Others in the pack include Rogen Ladon, Hergie Bacyadan, Aira Villegas, Irish Magno, James Palicte and Ian Clark Bautista. Manalo said two under-theradar fighters to watch are Bacyadan and Villegas. “Hergie’s willing to learn and has power,” he said. “She lost 3-2 to an Uzbek in the semis of the recent Asian Championships but I think she deserved to win. Aira is an up-and-coming 50 kg fighter and could surprise us.” Petecio said she’ll use the three-week break to decide whether or not to continue boxing.