PHNOM PENH—Only Ian Clark Bautista won a gold medal out of the four Filipino boxers who fought in the finals on Saturday afternoon in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games at the Chroy Changvar Center Hall G.
Bautista displayed aggressiveness in three rounds to capture the gold in the men’s featherweight, while two-time SEA Games flyweight champion Rogen Ladon, light welterweight Riza Pasuit and Tokyo Olympian Irish Magno lost their championship encounters.
The 28-year-old Binalbagan, Negros Occidental was the aggressor from start to finish, executing a perfect fight plan to destroy Indonesian Asri Udin via a 5-0 unanimous decision to secure his third gold medal in the biennial meet.
“This this win is for sir Ed (Picson),” said Bautista, referring to the former Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (ABAP) president, who died last April 19 due to liver complications.
“I remembered when I was 14 in 2009, he told me to stay at the ABAP gym to train continuously despite me being underweight,” Bautista added.
“I did my best to scout my opponent here, I did my homework because I know he’s not an easy foe to fight,” he said.
As Bautista delivered several body shots to his hapless victim, a handful of Filipinos watching at the sidelines, led by Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino, Philippine Sports Commission chairman Dicky Bachmann, Senator Bong Go and Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri, cheered him on.
Ladon’s performance, however, was a complete opposite of Bautista’s dominance as he was turned into a target practice by Thailand’s Thanarat Saengphet in their flyweight finale on the way to a 0-5 defeat.
Pasuit lost to Vietnamese Thi Linh Ha, also via the same 0-5 unanimous decision, while Magno suffered defeat to long time rival Jutamas Jitpong of Thailand in same 0-5 manner.
On Sunday, Tokyo Olympics silver medalists, bantamweight Carlo Paalam and women’s featherweight Nesthy Petecio, light heavyweight John Marvin, light welterweight Paul Julyfer Bascon and lightweight Norlan Petecio will try to add to the Philippines’ medal haul.