FILIPINO boxers Nick Angelo Payla and Clowe Tabastabas met contrasting fortunes at the start of the World Boxing Under-19 Championships over the weekend at the Pueblo Convention Center in Pueblo, Colorado.
Displaying punching accuracy and good head movement on defense, Payla pounded a convincing unanimous (5-0) decision over South Korea’s Kim Ji-hoon in their opening flyweight bout in the first global youth tournament organized by the new international amateur boxing body.
The inexperienced Tabastabas exited from the competition courtesy of England’s Tiah-Mai Ayton, who carved out an RSC (referee stop contest) verdict with 29 seconds left in the second round of their featherweight clash.
Meanwhile, Bianca Pagdanganan played erratically anew yesterday, finishing with a 70 and ending in a four-way tie for 18th place at the close of the Maybank Championship at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club West Course in Malaysia.
Pagdanganan had a rollercoaster outing on the par-72, 6,536-yard layout in the Malaysian capital, shooting an eagle on the fifth hole on top of birdies on the second, fourth, seventh, 16th and 18th holes but also had a double bogey on the third and bogeys on the eighth, 14th and 15th.
The two-time Olympian had a four-round aggregate of 277, netting her a purse of $36,661 (around P2.147 million), 12 shots behind Chinese champion Yin Ruoning, who had 65-265 in taking home a whopping $450,000 (P26.354 million) and a one-stroke win over Thai Jeeno Thitikul.