THE Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (Abap) sent two Filipino boxers to the Tokyo Olympics just in nick of time when the global Covid-19 pandemic lockdown was imposed exactly a year ago today.
Middleweight Felix Eumir Marcial and flyweight Irish Magno booked berths to the Olympics via the Asia and Oceania Boxing Qualification Tournament in Amman, Jordan, with Marcial bagging the gold medal in the 75-kg division.
The Abap, headed by President Ricky Vargas, is keeping its fingers crossed as the federation is hoping to send two more boxers to Tokyo.
The International Olympic Committtee Boxing Task Force (BTF) canceled the qualifiers in Paris in May and will instead go to the world rankings to fill up the remaining slots in the Olympics that were postponed for July 23 to August 8 this year.
Carlo Paalam (flyweight) and world women’s champion Nesthy Petecio (bantamweight) are perched high in the continental rankings, giving them strong chances for the Olympics.
For consistently qualifying Filipino athletes in the Olympics, Abap will be named National Sports Association of the Year in the San Miguel Corp.-Philippine Sportswriters Association virtual Awards Night on March 27 at the TV5 Media Center.
This marks the second straight year the boxing federation is being bestowed the special award in the event co-presented by the Philippine Sports Commission and Cignal TV, with 1-Pacman Partylist and Rain or Shine as major backers.
Pro golfer Yuka Saso headlines the 2020 honor roll of the country’s oldest media organization headed by Manila Bulletin sports editor Tito Talao as the Athlete of the Year.
Abap qualified two boxers in the 2016 Rio De Janeiro Olympics—Rogen Ladon (light flyweight) and Charly Suarez (lightweight)—although none of them got past the round-of-16.
This time, the federation hopes to surpass those numbers should Petecio and Paalam make it to Tokyo.
The 25-year-old Marcial looms as boxing’s biggest hope for the country’s first-ever Olympic gold medal following his impressive triumph during the Asia-Oceania qualifiers last year.
Now fighting as a pro, the native of Lunzuran, Zamboanga City, eked out a close 3-2 decision against Abilkhan Amankul of Kazakhstan to win gold and make it to the Olympics.
The 29-year-old Magno missed the semifinals of the same tournament in Jordan, but clinched a berth in Tokyo after winning her box off against Sumaiya Qosimova of Taijikistan, 5-0, to become the first Filipina boxer to reach the Olympics.
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