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Philippines, 27 Nov 2024 |
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SALUDAR, BARRIGA KEEP OLYMPIC DREAM ALIVE By Ronnie Nathanielsz PhilBoxing.com Mon, 03 Oct 2011  Rey Saludar. The Philippines Olympic gold medal dream lives on through the fists of Philippine Army man and Guangzhou Asian Games flyweight champion Rey Saludar and the amazing littlest man of the national team, light flyweight Mark Anthony Barriga.. Saludar is just one win away from qualifying for the 2012 London Olympic Games after he put on a dominating performance against Tajikistan?s 2010 World Combat Games silver medalist, 19 year old Safoviddin Yusufi at the World Boxing Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan while Barriga followed suit in the light flyweight division by whipping Ireland?s fancied Peter ?Paddy? Barnes 20-12. Barriga began aggressively to take the opening round 6-4 before pressing the action in round two in which he padded his lead with a 7-4 count for a 13-8 margin going into the third and final round. There was nothing Barnes could do to stem the tide as Barriga took another 7-4 round to eventually score a handsome 20-12 decision and set up a showdown against China?s World Boxing Championship and 2010 Olympic gold medalist and superstar Zou Shiming. With the win Barriga avenged his loss last year in the world youth championships against Barnes' compatriot Ryan Burnett who eliminated him in the round of 16 also here in Baku. In a top sixteen bout Saludar scored a handsome 28-12 win to enter the quarter finals where he will meet Rau Shee Warren of the United States, who outclassed Ukraine?s Georgiy Chygayev 22-15. Warren is the first American boxer to compete in two Olympic Games since Davey Lee Armstrong in 1972 and 1976. The 2004 and 2008 Olympian won the gold medal at the 2007 World Championships in 2007 after winning the bronze medal in 2005. Warren is a three-time US National champion. At the 2007 World Championships, Warren defeated European Champion Georgy Balakshin in a rematch and Samir Mammadov to reach the finals where he beat Thailand?s Somjit Jongjohor. At the AIBA American 2004 Olympic qualifier Warren who was 17 years old upset Rayonta Whitfield and Diego Hurtado and international competitors Raul Castaneda of Mexico and Miguel Miranda to qualify for the US Olympic team as a light flyweight. The fighters he beat are all prominent professional boxers today. Warren was both the youngest boxer in the games and the youngest US male in all sports. He was eliminated by the favored Zou Shiming of China in the first round. He moved up to flyweight soon after and in 2005 and 2006 became US champion. At the 2005 World Championships , Warren avenged his previous loss to European champion Georgy Balakshin before losing to the Korean surprise winner Lee Ok Sung and having to settle for bronze. In 2006 Light middleweight Akima Stocks and Warren were named USA Boxing?s 2006 Athletes of the Year. That year he also moved up to fight as a bantamweight, and lost to highly regarded Cuban and currently undefeated pro Guillermo Rigondeaux. In 2007 he returned to the flyweight ranks and repeated as US champion. Saludar repeatedly ripped through the defense of Yusufi with cracking left straights and right hooks. Warren who is seeded No. 4 in the World Championships won his match Sunday with a 22-15 walloping of Georgiy Chigayev of Ukraine despite giving up four penalty points to his opponent for low blows. Barriga hammered the eighth seeded Barnes of Ireland as he grabbed the opportunity to avenge his loss last year in the world youth championships against Barnes' compatriot Ryan Burnett who eliminated him in the round of 16 also here in Baku. Barriga was leading 3-2 going to the last round when the referee assessed two penalties on the Panabo, Davao del Norte native ostensibly for ducking. Barriga scored one more point in the round while the Irish lad did not score. But the latter won the match, 6-4 on the strength of four penalty points awarded him. Prior to the battle with Barnes, the diminutive 18 year-old was unfazed by the sterling credentials of his new Irish foe who was a bronze medalist in the Beijing Olympic games. He said ?Suntukan naman ang labanan e. Kung sino ang maraming patama, yon ang panalo. Damihan ko na lang ang tama." (It's a boxing match. Whoever hits more accurately wins. I'll just hit him more"). Bantamweight veteran Joan Tipon, the 2006 Doha Asian Games gold medalist will also seek to crash into the final 16 in his fight against 2010 Asian Games silver medalist Zhang Jiawei of China. Zheng also won silver in the 2010 Combat Games. AIBA reported that Asian Games bantamweight silver medalist Zhang Jiawei of China set up a mouthwatering second round clash with Filipino pugilist Joan Tipon. The report said Zhang, 22, justified being rated one of the favorites for the title by outclassing Iran's Armin Amjadian winning all three rounds of the bout (9-3, 5-4, 4-2) while Tipon was made to work harder in a 13-12 win over Argentina's Alberto Melian. Earlier, Delfin Boholst, Rolando Tacuyan and Charly Suarez were eliminated in the preliminaries. Coaches are Pat Gaspi, Ronald Chavez and Roel Velasco. The nationals' stint here is funded by the Philippine Sports Commission and the boxing federation's major private sponsor PLDT, which is headed by ABAP chairman, Manuel V. Pangilinan. Boxing shoes and equipment were provided by Adidas, uniforms by Accel, hydration drinks by Powerade and vitamins by Clusivol. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.  |
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