Fernandez, Suarez, Tupas advance to boxing semis
The Phl’s Charly Suarez (right) slugs it out with Khir Akyazlan Azmi of Malaysia. JUN MENDOZA
KUALA LUMPUR – Mario Fernandez and Charly Suarez disposed of their respective rivals in crushing fashions to more than make up for Carlo Paalam’s setback in men’s boxing competitions of the 29th Southeast Asian Games at the MITEC Hall 8 here yesterday.
Rookie Fil-Brit Marvin John Nobel Tupas later scored a unanimous decision over Felix Martin Lopez of Cambodia to likewise advance to the semifinals in the 81-kg category.
Fernandez, seeking his third SEA Games gold medal, cruised to the semifinals with a unanimous decision win over Tran Phu Cuong of Vietnam in the bantamweight class.
Suarez, on the other hand, also posted a unanimous decision win over Khir Akyazlan Azmi of Malaysia in their light welterweight clash.
Paalam earlier bowed to Muhamad Fuad of Malaysia in the light flyweight division.
Suarez, eyeing his first SEA Games gold medal in a higher weight class, dominated the burly Malaysian in the first round with hard body punches before landing with a big cross on a three-punch combination in the third that forced the referee to make a standing eight count.
Earlier, the power-hitting Fernandez clipped Cuong to move two matches away from bagging his third consecutive gold in the biennial games.
Fernandez, Suarez and Tupas thus joined flyweight Ian Clark Bautista, middleweight Eumir Felix Marcial and Suarez in the medal round.
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