Filipino boxers shine at President's Cup

Filipino boxers shine at President's Cup

JAKARTA (JP): Filipino boxers knocked Indonesia out of the
President's Cup championship title race here yesterday, denying
the host team of a record third victory in a row.

The Philippines, powered by its triumphant Asian Games team,
flexed their muscles to take a commanding 28-point lead midway
to the 12 cards contested in yesterday's finals, thanks to three
gold medals won by Reynaldo Galido, Roland Chavez and Anthony
Icusquisa.

They had collected a healthy 19 points after Tuesday's
semifinals, leading their closest rival Australia by three
points. Indonesia, which was split into three teams, entered the
finals with its dreams going up to smoke. The Rajawali team led
Indonesia's charge with 16 points.

The annual tournament applied a point system instead of a medals
tally in deciding the overall champion, with a preliminary round
win worth one point, a semifinal victory two points and a gold
medalist another three points.

Asian Games light-welterweight gold medalist Galido launched
his team on a flying start in his bout against Gery Legras of
Sychelles. Galido, one of four Filipinos who reached the finals,
had trouble in the early part of the fight due to Legras'
aggressive brawling style.

But the Filipino sped up the pace, sending Legras to the ropes
before landing his two-fisted combinations. Galido used effective
late rallies to wrap up the bout with a unanimous decision.

Chavez displayed a more or less the same dynamic boxing on his
way to a unanimous decision win over Russian V. Greev in their
welterweight battle.

Amid boisterous cheers from the 5,000 spectators who filled a
smoky Senayan tennis indoor stadium, Chaves forced Greev to
exchange blows throughout the exhausting five-rounder. Chavez
wore out Greev's patience with skillful body weaving which led
the Russian to misplace his punches.

Asian Games bronze medalist Icuisquisa assured his team of the
coveted trophy by outclassing Rico Maspaetela of Indonesia
Rajawali in the third round of their bantamweight fight.

Rico found himself on the receiving end during the one-sided
final, despite the moral support he received from the cheering
home crowd. Icuisquisa landed a series of devastating blows to
send Rico falling to his knees in the third round. The Indonesian
tried to beat the counts, but failed to regain his feet. The
referee stopped the contest, knowing that Rico had wobbled after
the ninth count.

In the fly weight (51kg) division, it took Indonesia's Rachman
Kili-Kili only two rounds to stop South Korean Yoo Ji-Yoon.

Delivering relentless blows, Rachman, silver medalist at last
year's tournament, apparently outclassed the helpless South
Korean from the outset.

Finding that Yoo was always on the defensive, the referee then
stopped the unbalanced fight on an RSC.

Indonesia's best hope Nemo Bahari prevented Filipino pugilist
Vincente Calido from taking a fourth gold for his country. Calido
was able to match Nemo blow for blow only in the first three
rounds. In the last two rounds, however, it was clear that
Calido, although determined and quite attack-minded, was not
Nemo's equal.

Feeling unable to answer Nemo's brilliant approaches, Calido
often resorted to clinching Nemo. Nemo was very good at seeing
opportunities and cashing in on them immediately by providing his
opponent's shaky defense with his sporadic uppercuts. Points
raced wildly for Nemo, from 4-8 in the early fourth round to 5-18
by the end of the fifth and final round.

The crowd, who had followed the bout emotionally, broke into a
gigantic cheer as Nemo was declared the winner. He was hugged and
kissed by Wismoyo Arismunandar, the chairman of the National
Sports Council, who then declared the tournament closed.