INCHEON, South Korea—Lightweight Charly Suarez scored a convincing victory but middleweight Wilfredo Lopez looked lucky to get one, as the Philippines kept four boxers in the hunt in the 17th Asian Games on Monday.
Suarez, 26 and the most veteran on the national team that has lost four boxers so far in the earlier rounds, was dominant in a 29-27, 29-27, 29-27 victory over Iraq’s Ammar Jabar Hasan to advance to the semifinals and guarantee himself a bronze medal.
Suarez, who had three operations on his shoulder last year and one early this year—injuries he sustained for his active schedule in an East Asian boxing league—eyes a finals berth on Thursday against 20-year-old Mohammada Mustafa Alkasbeh of Jordan, who eliminated South Korea’s Han Soon-chul, 3-0 count.
Lopez also faced an Iraqi at the Seonhak Gymnasium. A more muscular Abdulridha Waheed was the more aggressive fighter and appeared to have the better end of his brawl with the Filipino from the opening bell.
But the 29-year-old Lopez was declared the winner, earning similar scores of 29-28 to reach the quarterfinals, to the delight of the small Filipino gallery.
Suarez’s semifinal opponent Alkasbeh, 20, a silver medalist in the Asian Championship last year in Amman while fighting as a bantamweight, booked a third-round technical knockout win over Mazafar Ali of Kuwait in the round-of-16. He opened his campaign in the Games with a 2-1 win over Berik Abdrakhmanov of Kazakhstan.
Lopez, a veteran of the Guangzhou Games in 2010 and a silver medalist in the Myanmar Southeast Asian Games last year, often left his guard down against the aggressive Waheed, who used his bulk to tie up the Filipino and unleashed combinations to the head and body.
Lopez himself looked surprised when Russian referee Vladislav Malyshev raised his arm.
Lopez takes on Shinebayar Narmandakh of Mongolia in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. The Mongolian was declared the winner over Almutairi Zaid of Kuwait with 49 seconds left in the second round but left the venue with a big cut under his right eyebrow, a victim of a headbutt.
“It has become Lopez’s habit to bring his fists down and we have been trying to correct that for a long time,” coach Nolito “Boy” Velasco said. “But against the Mongolian, he has to cover his face because of the cut, giving us a big chance to advance to the semifinals for another sure bronze.”
Light-flyweight Mark Anthony Barriga and bantamweight Mario Fernandez will also fight on Tuesday in the quarterfinals.
Barriga, who ousted the taller but awkward Tosho Kashiwasaki of Japan by unanimous decision last Sunday, faces Hasanboy Dusmatov of Uzbekistan while Fernandez, coming off a 3-0 win over Puran Rai of Nepal in the round-of-16, takes on Shiva Thapa of India.
Flyweight Ian Clark Bautista and women boxers Josie Gabuco and Nesthy Petecio already bowed out of the Games.