INCHEON, South Korea – Charly Suarez unloaded tons of powerful punches to the head of a defenseless but unyielding Iraqi Hasan Anmar Jabbar Hassan and won a unanimous decision to advance to the medal round of the lightweight class (60Kg) of the Asian Games boxing competitions yesterday.
Suarez inflicted the biggest damage with a combination of left hooks and right crosses and occasional uppercuts that jarred the inexperienced Iraqi, who simply wouldn’t give up despite the Filipino’s deadly blows and his failed attempts to land decent punches of his own.
The judges gave Suarez a unanimous 3-0 verdict (29-27) despite being given a one-point deduction from his card for rule infraction.
In the other bout, middleweight Wilfredo Lopez outclassed another Iraqi, Waheed Waheed Abdulridha Waheed, 3-0, to advance to the quarterfinal. He was leading on all judges’ records in the first two rounds but lost steam in the third which went to the Iraq.
Still, the win put him and Suarez in the quarterfinal where they join lightlfyweight Olympian Mark Anthony Barriga and bantamweight Mario Fernandez for a chance to win at least a bronze and a place in the gold medal round.
However, to reach the semifinal, Suarez will be up against 2013 Asian championship bronze medalist Alkasbeh Obeda Mohammed Mustafa of Jordan. Alkasbeh, who scored the only stoppage in the lightweight class with a TKO over Han Soonchul of Korea, was also bronze medalist in the tough Giraldo Cordova tournament in Cuba in 2012.
Lopez will contend with another entry from the fancied Mongolian stable — Nadmandakh Shinebayar — who also scored a unanimous decision over Zaid Gh Almutairi of Kuwait.
Aready out of contention from the eight-member Philippine boxing team are two women fighters – lightweight Nesthy Petecio and flyweight Josie Gabuco – and flyweight Ian Clark Bautista and light welterweight Dennis Galvan.