A LEAN team of six athletes-three of them Olympic medalists-will try to end a 16-year gold medal drought in Asian Games boxing later this month in Aichi and Nagoya.
‘We’re all aware of that,’ Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines president Marcus Manalo said. ‘Who would know, those silvers could have been gold medals, but these Asian Games in Nagoya will be tough.’
Flyweight Rey Saludar won the country’s last boxing gold medal in Guangzhou 2010 but in the succeeding games, the best Filipino boxers could bring home were silver medals-Charly Suarez (Incheon 2014), Rogen Ladon (Jakarta 2018) and Eumir Felix Marcial (Hangzhou 2023).
The best finish by any Philippine boxing team in the Asian Games were three gold medals in Hiroshima 1994 courtesy of light flyweight Mansueto ‘Onyok’ Velasco, flyweight Elias Recaido and light welterweight Reynaldo Galido.
Out to do battle in the 20th edition of the Asiad are Tokyo silver medalist and Paris bronze medalist Nesthy Petecio, Tokyo silver medalist Carlo Paalam and Paris bronze medalist Aira Villegas.
Paalam, 32, won in Tokyo as a flyweight but will be fighting as a bantamweight.
‘I really wanted to win the Asiad title because I have none of that,’ said Paalam, who is also a two-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist.
Joining them are Petecio’s younger brother Norlan (light middleweight), Junmilardo Ogayre (lightweight) and Risa Pasuit (bantamweight).
‘But our boxers are all hungry for the gold. I believe we can win the gold after 16 years,’ Manalo stressed.
The team, according to Manalo, underwent a two-week training camp in Bangkok and are headed for a pre-games camp in Nagoya before they check in to the Athletes Villages.
The boxing competitions are set September 21 to October 2 at the Nishio Gymnasium in Aichi.
They are coached by Ronald Chavez, Elmer Pamisa, Gerson Nietes and Mitchell Martinez and foreign consultant, Kevin Smith, from Great Britain.
‘Besides our three Olympians, Norlan, Risa and Ogayre are going all out to prove that they really belong to the international stage,’ Manalo said.
Middleweight Weljon Mindoro was dropped from the roster after the professional boxer suffered a terrible first-round knockout loss to Carlos Campo of Mexico in Galen, California, last Sunday.
Manalo said Marcial remains on the entry list but his competition depends on the outcome of his eighth professional fight in the US against American Omar Ulises Huerta which coincides with the Asian Games opening ceremony on September 19.