Dela Cruz, Panuayan advance in ASBC Elite boxing tiff

MANILA, Philippines – Filipinos Jere Samuel dela Cruz and John Payl Panuayan hurdled their respective preliminary round assignment even as Marvin Tabamo suffered a heartbreaking defeat at the start of the ASBC Elite Men and Women Boxing Championships in Dubai Monday night.

Dela Cruz smashed Sri Lankan Jeewantha Wimukthi, 4-1, in their lightweight duel while Panauayan overwhelmed local bet Majid Alnaqbi, 5-0, in their light welter showdown.

Tabamo, a gold medalist in the 2018 Tammer Cup in Finland, crashed out early after he absorbed a stinging 2-3 defeat at the hands of Afghan Ramish Rahmani, a silver medal winner in Indonesia’s President Cup.

The wins set dela Cruz against India’s Varinder Singh and Panauyan versus Tajikistan’s Bakhodur Usmonov in the quarters Wednesday.

Tokyo Olympics-bound Eumir Marcial, meanwhile, drew a first-round bye in the middleweight class and will tackle Mongolian Otgonbaatar Byamba-Erdene, a 4-1 winner over Iraqi Ridha Talib Jabbar, in the quarterfinals.

Other Filipinos seeking to advance are light fly Mark Lester Durens, bantam Junmilardo Ogayre and lightweight Maricel dela Torre, who were clashing with Kuwait’s Mansour Khalefah, Sri Lanka’s Rukmal Prasanna and Indonesia’s Huswatun Hasanah, respectively, at press time.

Former world champion and five-time Southeast Asian Games gold medal winner Josie Gabuco, for her part, likewise drew a bye and will battle the winner of the quarterfinal match between Sri Lanka’s Rasmika Ilangarathha and Uzbekistan’s Guilasal Sultonalieva tomorrow.

“Tougher fights are ahead, we have four tonight,” said Alliance of Boxing Association of the Philippines (ABAP) secretary-general Ed Picson.