MEMBERS of the eight-man Philippine boxing team are capable of winning medals of any color in the 18th Asian Games - and end the country’s gold drought in the quadrennial meet.
Veteran Mario Fernandez leads the charge of the boxing squad, which last won a gold medal during the 2010 edition of the showpiece in Guangzhou, China courtesy of flyweight Rey Saludar.
Of the boxers bound for Jakarta, Fernandez is the only one who won a medal in the Asiad, bagging a bronze in the bantamweight class in 2014 in Incheon, South Korea.
But Ed Picson, executive director of the Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (ABAP), said anyone among Fernandez to former AIBA World Youth Boxing Championship gold winner Eumir Marcial are potential medalists for the country.
“As always, we picked boxers who we feel have a chance to win a medal. We were initially allowed 10 boxers, but we decided to send only eight,” said Picson.
“We’re upbeat about this team, they’ve performed well in several international competitions this year as well as in training camps,” he added. “Hopefully, these will translate into medals in Jakarta.”
Aside from Fernandez (56 kgs) and Marcial (75 kgs), completing the team are Joel Bacho (69 kgs), James Palicte (60 kgs), Rogen Ladon (52 kgs), Carlo Paalam (49 kgs) and women boxers Irish Magno (51 kgs) and Nesty Petecio (57 kgs), a former silver medalist in both the World Championship (2014) and 2015 Asian Amateur Boxing Championships.
Coaches are Nolito Boy Velasco, Ronald Chavez, and Elmer Pamisa.
Pressed on who are the best bets for a gold medal, Picson picked three of them.
“Lahat sila puwede mag gold, pero based on performance in past competitions, perhaps Paalam, Marcial, and Petecio are the ones to watch,” said the ABAP executive.
The country’s best finish in the Asiad boxing competitions came in the 1994 Hiroshima Games when it won a total of three gold medals courtesy of Mansueto Velasco (light-flyweight), Elias Recaido (flyweight), and Reynaldo Galido (light-welterweight).
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