Local pugilists regain pride with hard-hitting punches
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.