Asian slugfest in India scratched

MANILA, Philippines — The Asian Elite Men and Women Boxing Championships, an event where the Philippine national team was supposed to participate from May 21 to 31 in New Delhi, India, has been called off due to the alarming rise of new COVID-19 cases in the host country.

Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (ABAP) secretary-general Ed Picson, however, said the organizing Asian Boxing Confederation (ABC) is eyeing the possibility of moving the event to another country, possibly Dubai or Bahrain.

“Malabo na ang India,” Picson told The STAR yesterday. “The ABC board, of which I am a member, will decide soon on an alternative host city, either Dubai or Bahrain.”

The decision to postpone the competition was due to the frightening spike of infections in India, which booked a record 345,147 new cases and 2,621 deaths last Friday.

At present, New Delhi alone has registered 956,000 cases with 13,193 fatalities.

The event drew 32 countries from across the region, including the Philippines, which is hoping to use it as part of the preparation for Tokyo Olympics qualifiers Eumir Marcial, Irish Magno, Nesthy Petecio and Carlo Paalam.

Marcial left his training camp in Los Angeles last Monday to compete in India so he could get a closer look at his competitors in the 75 kg class in Tokyo in July.

Currently, the Nationals led by Magno, Petecio and Paalam, and a handful others preparing for the 31st SEA Games in Hanoi in November, are training in Thailand.

Marcial, who flew home to Zamboanga to  visit his ailing father, is waiting for further instructions and information.

The Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) had turned down the request of ABAP to fund its trip to India due to the COVID-19 situation there but simultaneously approved the extension of the national squad’s stay in Thailand or even fund its trip to Europe if there’s any competition they wish to join.

“But not India,” said SEA Games chef-de-mission Ramon Fernandez of the PSC. “We cannot risk our qualified boxers. But we approved the extension for a month of their Thailand training.”