MANILA, Philippines - With the qualifying events for the London Olympics going full blast early 2012, the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (ABAP) is eyeing to send its male hopefuls to Mongolia and female aspirants to Kazakhstan to gear them up for the qualifiers.
ABAP executive director Ed Picson said the plan is to bring along Rey Saludar and Co. to Ulan Bator, Mongolia for possible training sessions with Mongolian pugs on the side while the country’s lady boxers compete in the ASBC Women’s Boxing Championships on March 16-26.
“Mongolia is a strong nation in boxing so we’re coordinating with our counterparts in Mongolia if our male boxers can train there while our female bets are fighting,” said Picson.
Mongolia came off its best Olympics showing in 2008 with two golds and two silvers, with boxing accounting for half, courtesy of bantamweight champ Enkhbatyn Badar-Uugan and lightflyweight runnerup Pürevdorjiin Serdamba.
For the London Games, Mongolia has sent in two in Serdamba and lightwelter Uranchimegiin Mönkh-Erdene while Phl had only one in lightfly Mark Anthony Barriga so far.
From Mongolia, Picson said the male pugs will proceed to Astana, Kazakhstan where they will seek to earn berths in AIBA’s London 2012 Olympic Qualifying Event for Asia, on March 30-April 8.
The plan, according to Picson, is to tag along the Pinay pugs as final buildup for the AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships, their own qualifying meet for London, slated May 21 – June 3 in Qinhuangdao, China.
SEA Games champions Josie Gabuco (46), and Alice Kate Aparri (48) and SEAG silver medalists Nesthy Petecio (54) are being groomed for the 51-kg Olympic class that Phl intends to send an entry when women’s boxing debuts in London.
“We’re preparing an extensive training program for our male and female boxers as they bid for the Olympics. No ifs and buts about it, the directive of our chairman, Mr. Manny V. Pangilinan, and president, Mr. Ricky Vargas, is to spare no effort; provide all-out support to give our boxers a shot at the Olympics,” Picson said.
The ABAP pool returns to camp today after a brief break during the holidays. They are also set to attend a planning and team-building workshop by mid-January to kickstart their busy year.
source by Olmin Leyba, The Philippine Star
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