FIVE Filipino boxers left for Bangkok yesterday to shoot for berths to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

But the boxers, including the entire Philippine delegation, would have to expect a hostile crowd and host during the Asian Olympic qualifying tournament set at the DPU International College Gym in the Thai capital.

Bannered by Doha Asian Games gold medalists Violito Payla and Joan Tipon, the crack team, which also includes veteran internationalists Genebert Basadre and Orlando Tacuyan and Filipino-American recruit Adam Bigornia Feihl, will slug it out in a field that lured 27 other boxers from other Asian countries.

They were accompanied by national coaches Pat Gaspi and Ronald Chavez and team manager Dr. Francis Sta. Maria.

Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (ABAP) president Manny Lopez will join the team today, while Philippine Sports Commission chairman William Ramirez and telecommunications mogul and boxing sports godfather Manny V. Pangilinan are expected to follow in time for the Filipinos’ bouts.

“They are very much prepared to do battle in Bangkok. Handa sila sa lahat ng pwedeng mangyari sa ring. Matinding ensayo ang ginawa nila para paghandaan ang laban na ’to,” said ABAP secretary-general Roger Fortaleza.

ABAP had set a target of winning at least two of the 19 Olympic slots staked in the nine-day slugfest.

“Lahat ng pinadala natin dito ay capable makakuha ng slot para sa Olympics, although we are especially leaning on Payla and Tipon. Pero walang pushovers sa mga atleta natin na lalaban sa tournament,” added Fortaleza.

Payla will vie in the flyweight division, while Tipon will see action in the bantamweight class. Basadre is entered in the lightweight class, Tacuyan in the featherweight and Feihl in the welterweight.

Only light flyweight Harry Tanamor has secured a ticket to the Beijing Olympics which are scheduled August 8 to 24. He got his after clinching a silver medal in the 2007 AIBA World Championships in Chicago, Illinois.

The Philippines has not won a gold since joining the Summer Games in 1924. The closest it got was the silver medal feats by boxers Anthony Villanueva in 1964 Tokyo Games and Mansueto “Onyok” Velasco in the 1996 edition in Atlanta.

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MONICO PUENTEVELLA, the chief of mission to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, urged national sports associations whose athletes have qualified for Beijing, to submit their programs in February.

FIVE Filipino boxers left for Bangkok yesterday to shoot for berths to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

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