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CAGAYAN
DE ORO CITY—The combined Philippine Navy-Bago City team
bagged the overall championship of the seniors’ division
of Smart-Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (ABAP)
National Open Championships that ended here Saturday
night.
But this
unpredictable weeklong boxfest unearthed a promising
fighter in Orlando Tacuyan Jr. of Angeles City who was
awarded as the ‘Best Boxer’ of the open category and
probably also the most promising prospect for future
international competitions.
The
19-year-old Tacuyan downed another Chicago World
Championships-bound boxer in Charlie Suarez of Davao del
Norte-A in their gold medal match of 57-kg
(featherweight) on points, 51-43, at the Misamis
Oriental Capitol grounds.
And the
scary part of it? It was Tacuyan’s first ABAP National
Open tournament, already victimizing an established
boxer in Joan Tipon, the Busan Asian Games gold
medalist, and now a teammate in the national pool in
Suarez, also a 19-year-old pugilist.
“Masaya
dahil first time kong sumali dito,
dalawang RP boxers ang tinalo ko,” said
Tacuyan, who edged Tipon in his first assignment, 26-24,
before securing first-round wins against Rey Enoc of
Cebu City and Virgilio Basadre of Misamis Oriental in
the quarterfinals.
“Sana
nga, mapansin nila ako [RP coaching staff] para
mapasama sa SEA Games. Depende kasi sa kanila eh,”
the first-year Hotel and Restaurant Management student
at University of Baguio added.
Because
of lack of time to warm up as organizers were mixed up
with the day’s schedule, Tacuyan came out flat in the
opening round and Suarez, the country’s bet in
featherweight in the first Beijing Olympic qualifier in
Chicago, took advantage of it, hitting his opponent with
1-2 combinations to the body to take the first round.
But
Tacuyan punished Suarez with a series of straight jabs
and timely hooks to get his rhythm and confidence back
and held on to complete his amazing stint.
His feat
was the only shining moment for the Angeles City squad
as PN/Bago City, which fielded 20 boxers in the
division, ruled the seniors’ class with five gold medals
and a pair of bronzes.
Bill
Vicera started the PN/Bago City’s onslaught with an
referee stopped contest-outclassed (RSC-O) win over
Rechie Behec of Davao del Norte in 31 seconds of the
second round in their 45-kg or pinweight finals match.
Albert Pabila followed up Vicera’s victory with his own
RSC-Outscored triumph against Frederick dela Cruz of
Davao City also in the second round of their
light-flyweight finale.
Other PN/Bago
City bets who took the gold were Joegen Ladon
(lightweight), Larry Semillano (welterweight) and Junie
Tizon (light-heavyweight).
Ladon
and Semillano edged World Championship-bound fighters
Genebert Basadre of Philippine Army, 40-33, and Wilfredo
Lopez of Pacific Heights, 32-19, while Tizon scored an
RSC-O win over Isaar Tulin of Davao City.
Philippine Army, champions in the last three stagings of
the Open, settled for second with three gold medals and
same number of silvers.
Army’s
golden victories came from flyweight Violito Payla,
bantamweight Godfrey Castro and heavyweight Maximo
Tabangcora.
Payla,
one of the only two RP boxers bound for Chicago to win
here, stopped Davao del Norte’s Rey Saludar via RSC-Outscored
in 19 seconds of the third round. Meanwhile, Castro
bucked an aching right shoulder and survived
heavy-puncher Larry Abarra of
Olongapo
City
also by RSC-Outscored in 1:18 of the third round.
“Mas
malaki siya sa akin kaya dinaan ko na lang sa bilis ko,”
said the 22-year-old Castro, who copped his third ABAP
Open gold medal.
Host
Misamis Oriental got the other gold medal in the
seniors’ division as Delfin Boholst, who will also see
action in Chicago, defeated two-time Asian Games
campaigner Anthony Igusquiza via RSC due to injury in
the final 45 seconds of third round of their
light-welterweight finals clash.
In the
juniors’ division, Davao del Norte was the overwhelming
overall champion with a five-gold, two-silver,
three-bronze medal haul.
Froilan
Saludar (light-flyweight), Jaime Quintoriano
(flyweight), Marlon Villacanas (bantamweight), Ruel Apog
(featherweight) and Roberto Udtuhan (light-welterweight)
delivered the gold for Davao del Norte while Zamboanga
City’s Coronado Tañamor (pinweight) emerged as the Best
Boxer in the juniors’ (17-19 years old) division.
In the
lone women’s match, Nesthy Petecio of Calinan, Davao
City took the gold in light-bantamweight division via
RSC-Outscored win over Mhian Marie Jalnaiz, daughter of
Asian Games gold medalist Roberto, at 1:04 mark of the
opening round. |
