Lopez, Saludar rout foes in Asian Elite boxing

INCHEON, South Korea -- The PLDT-ABAP National Boxing Team came up with mixed results on their first day of competition in the Asian Elite Men’s Championship at the Dowon Sports Arena here.

Wilfredo Lopez clobbered Kyrgyztan’s Maksat Alimbaev in the welterweight (69 kg) division, 24-11. The 25-year-old Army man from Kiamba, Saranggani constantly beat his opponent to the punch. In the first round, Alimbaev doubled up in pain after a hard right to the abdomen and took an 8-count.

Guazhou Asian Games flyweight division gold medalist Rey Saludar also picked up an easy win as his Japanese opponent was disqualified for repeated ducking. Saludar was ahead by a lopsided 21-4 when the referee stopped the fight in the second round.

Comebacking Joan Tipon, another Asian Games gold medalist (2006), likewise made short work of Mohammed Jawad of Iraq, schooling the latter in 3 rounds of their bantamweight (56 kg) match, 11-4.

The wins made up for the loss of light welterweight Rolando Tacuyan to hometown boy Sang Hyuk Park of South Korea, 18-13.

Another disappointment capped the Filipino campaign as highly-touted lightweight Charly Suarez was edged by Kazakh Aydar Amirzakov, 17-18.

Suarez started sluggishly, seemingly bothered by the height advantage of his opponent. He trailed 5-6 after the first canto and although he looked more active in the second, was unable to impress the judges who saw the Kazakh ahead, 13-9.

Suarez threw everything he had in the last round and totally dominated the third round but came up just a point short.

Team coaches Ronald Chavez and Roel Velasco could only rue the close defeats in their first day. “Tacuyan and Suarez both could have won their fights. We just need a little more adjustment in their games to get them to their optimum state. Hopefully they peak in time for the big one in September.”

Chavez, himself an Olympian, agreed: “This is a big tune-up for the World Championships in September which are also the Olympic qualifiers. We will see to it that everyone gets a good work out, even the losers. We will get them to spar with other boxers while we’re here”.

A surprise spectator was former PSC chairman Harry Angping. Here on a business visit, he motored from the capital city of Seoul, an hour away to give encouragement. He also brought pizzas from a pizza chain owned by a Korean associate.

The team is headed by Abap executive director Ed Picson and is backed by PLDT, Accel, the Philippine Sports Commission and Powerade.