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.