Local pugilists regain pride with hard-hitting punches
By Johannes K. Simbolon
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's boxers wrested domination of the ring from Thailand yesterday as its fighters crushed all their opponents on the second day of the semifinals.
It was sweet revenge for the hosts as all the Thai boxers had won their fights on the first day of semifinals Tuesday, defeating four Indonesians on the way.
Of the five boxers fielded by Indonesia's camp yesterday, three defeated Thai boxers, while the other two were victorious against Filipinos.
"I hope our fighters will do their best to win gold medals in the finals (today). In the last SEA Games in Chiang Mai two years ago, none of our fighters got any gold medals," said the chairman of the Indonesian Sports Council, Wismoyo Arismunandar, who watched most of the semifinals at the Soemantri Brodjonegoro sports hall in South Jakarta.
Thailand took all 11 boxing gold medals contested in Chiang Mai.
Indonesia has seven boxers in the finals, including pinweight (45kg) Rusli and flyweight (51kg) Hermensen Ballo, who won their semifinals on Tuesday.
The Indonesian victory run started yesterday with light flyweight (48kg) Lapaene Massara beating Filipino Disierto Efren 20-7.
The 1,000 boxing fanatics watching the semifinals felt the real war -- the war against Thailand -- started when a less well- known bantamweight (54kg) Dufri Masihor, an army private from the South Sulawesi's Wirabhuana Military Command, stepped into the ring to face Sontaya Wongprates.
Dufri defeated the victor in the Asian boxing championship in Kuala Lumpur two months ago 27-13 in a bout characterized by much hugging and pushing.
The crowd cheered Dufri's victory wildly and rushed to embrace him.
Lightweight (60kg) Wilpare Jamhur, an army private in the Jakarta Military Commander, brought more merriment to the crowd after beating another boxer from Thailand's camp, Pongsit Waingwisas 21-10.
"I hope I will be promoted to sergeant if I can win the gold medal," he said in his moment of victory.
Welterweight (67) Bara Gommies then entered the ring and defeated another boxer from Thailand, Park Poom Jang Phonak, 20- 13.
And veteran policeman Albert Papilaya completed the demolition in the last match. He wrapped up success by spectacularly finishing off Philippine's Mario Tizon with a third-round knock- out.
The technical president of Thailand's Amateur Boxing Federation, Maj. Gen. Taweep Jantararoj, could not hide his disappointment over his boxers' losses, hinting that the judges had made unfair decisions.
"We are certainly disappointed. But we are not going to complain or protest. We came here to show sportsmanship" Jantararoj told The Jakarta Post.
"Spectators know well who the real winners of the matches were," he added.