Boxing
Pinoy pugs suffer heavy losses in Olympic qualifiers
The five-man Philippine boxing team suffered heavy losses during the start of the Asian Olympic qualifying event in Astana, Kazakhstan.
Rey Saludar, a gold medalist in the 2010 Asian Games, bowed out in his 52 kg. clash via second-round RSC to Tsogsogt Nyambayar of Mongolia, while Wilfredo Lopez and Dennis Galvan (64 kg) also suffered the same fate.
Only Charly Suarez (60 kg) and Joegin Ladon (56 kg) survived the initial onslaught.
The Kazakhstan slugfest will be the last chance for Asian fighters to make the trip to the London Olympics, scheduled July 27 to August 12.
Manny Lopez, the chief of mission to the London Games and former president of the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines, remains hopeful that Suarez and Ladon would eventually make the grade although he is asking Filipinos to just pray that they succeed.
The Philippines is pinning its hopes on boxing in the Olympics and as of this time, only one boxer — light-fly Mark Anthony Barriga — has earned a booking.
Suarez will face a Kyrgyz puncher in the next round on April 9, while Ladon meets Chinese Zhang Jiawei on Saturday.
