JAY Brian Baricuatro and Flint Jara made up for the shock losses of Olympians Nesthy Petecio and Hergie Bacyadan after making it to the finals of the 33rd Southeast Asian Games boxing competition on Tuesday at the Chulalongkorn University Sports Center 4 Floor in Bangkok.
The 20-year-old Baricuatro scored an RSC (Referee Stopped Contest) against Antonio da Silva of Timor Leste in the opening round of the men’s 48kg semis, while the 23-year-old Jara was just as dominant in a 5-0 shutout of Ang Jin Yang of Singapore in the men’s 54kg.
The two are the first out of the 13-man Philippine boxing team to advance in the gold medal matches after the Filipino pugs fell by the wayside one after the other in the biennial meet, including Petecio, the two-time Olympic medal winner, and fellow Olympian Bacyadan.
But the road to the gold will be a tough one for Baricuatro and Jara, who face the prospect of going up against two Thai home bets.
Baricuatro squares off against Phlongaurai Thitiwat, winner by second round stoppage against Khamsathone Khamphouvanh of Laos, while Jara takes on Saengphet Thanarat, who scored a 5-0 win over Wahidi Mohamad Rizal of Malaysia.
Finals in all weight categories is set on Friday.
PH Boxing team wants more
Along with Baricuatro and Jara, still on track of vying for the gold are Olympians Eumir Felix Marcial and Aira Villegas, along with pro boxer Weljon Mindoro.
All three see action on Wednesday in the final day of the semis.
Marcial, bronze medalist in the Tokyo Olympics, goes up against Nguyen Manh Chong of Vietnam in the light-heavyweight class (80kg). Villegas, also a bronze winner in the Paris Games, takes on Mya Moe Thu of Myanmar in the women’s 50kg flyweight, while Mindoro, seeing action in his first SEA Games but carrying an unbeaten record of 15-0 as a pro, will also have a Vietnamese opponent in Bui Phuoc Tung in the men’s 75kg middleweight.
Already out of contention but assured of bronze medals are Petecio, Bacyadan, Mark Ashley Fajardo, and the women’s duo of Riza Pasuit and Ofelia Magno, who both lost in the semifinals on Tuesday.
Only veteran Ian Clark Bautista, Claudine Veloso, and Junmilardo Ogayre failed to reach the medal rounds, with Bautista and Ogayre losing to their Thai opponents in the quarterfinals.
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