CONTINUING to cast its lot with the newly-formed World Boxing and not resting on its latest Olympic laurels, the Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines is sending five boxers – three men and two women – to the first WB Under-19 Boxing Championships opening tomorrow (Saturday in Manila) at the Pueblo Convention Center in Pueblo, Colorado.
Competing in the men’s division are Nick Anjelo Payla, who will vie in the 50-kilogram class, Jerome Lopez (55kg) and John Steven Demaisip (60kg) while seeing action in the women’s division are Xian Baguin (51kg) and Clowe Tabastabas (57kg), according to ABAP secretary-general Marcus Manalo.
Joining the boxers are national coaches Elias Recaido Jr., Violito Payla and Josie Gabuco, who left with the team last Wednesday night together with ABAP chairman Ricky Vargas.
“Right after the tournament, Mr. Vargas and I will attend the World Boxing Congress in Colorado,” Manalo said.
Close to 200 boxers from 30 countries will compete in the meet, based on a report posted on the global amateur boxing body’s website, an organization formed after the International Olympic Committee suspended the International Boxing Association for lack of transparency and allegations of corruption.
“The competition, for male and female boxers aged 17 and 18, is World Boxing’s first-ever global championships. It will feature athletes from all five continents that compete in boxing and will be held across 10 weight categories for both men and women,” the report said.
“The largest contingent of boxers taking part in this historic event are from the host nation, USA, along with India and Italy, which have all entered teams of 15 men and women,” it added.
Also fielding teams to the competition are Algeria, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Ecuador, England, Finland, Germany, India, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Mongolia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Tahiti, Thailand, Ukraine and Wales.
Led by Dutchman Boris van der Vorst as its president, World Boxing hopes to be recognized by the IOC to save the founding Olympic sport from being scrapped in the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Games.
The IOC has excluded boxing from the calendar of disciplines in the 2028 edition of the quadrennial meet but left the door open for its reinstatement assuming the WB can woo more countries and gets recognized by the world Olympic body.
The absence of boxing would be detrimental to the Philippine Olympic campaign since the sport has provided the bulk of the country’s medals in the quadrennial sports showcase, including two bronze medals from Nesthy Petecio and Aira Villegas in the Paris Olympics.
Pino boxers also garnered two silvers courtesy of Carlo Paalam and Petecio and a bronze from Eumir Felix Marcial in the Tokyo Olympiad in 2021.
