Busy month of May for Pinoy boxers

source: gmanews

It will be a busy month of May for boxers seeking possible berths in the 2012 London Olympics as they compete in two separate tournaments.

Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (ABAP) executive director Ed Picson said that they have split up the national team for tournaments in Uzbekistan and Russia next month.

The boxers who will compete in the May 7 to 13 Jackson tournament in Tashkent are Victorio Saludar (49kg), Jerson Nietes (52kg), comebacking Joan Tipon (56kg), Charlie Suarez (60kg), Dennis Galvan (64kg) and Delfin Boholst (69kg).

Asian Games gold medalist Rey Saludar (52kg) leads the cast of boxers for the Korotkov Memorial on May 16 to 22 in Russia along with Mark Anthony Barriga (49kg), Ricky Dulay (56kg), Orlando Tacuyan Jr. (60kg), Nathaniel Montealto (64kg) and Wilfredo Lopez (69kg).

They hope to get slots for the Olympic qualifiers in Baku, Azerbaijan in September and move closer to securing seats in the London Games.

ABAP is also preparing for the Asian Cup Women’s Boxing Tournament in Haiku, China on May 5 to 9 with Alice Kate Aparri (48kg) and Nesty Petecio (54kg) vying for the gold medal in this invitational tournament.

Picson said the national boxers will continue to train during Holy Week except on Good Friday.

A training period in Sheffield, England where boxers from Germany are also training alongside the English boxers is also being arranged by the governing body of amateur boxing.

“Our athletes are very busy and we are leaving no stone unturned for the Olympic qualifiers," said Picson in his radio program on dzSR.

Meanwhile, the participation of two female boxers in the inaugural World Junior Youth Women’s Boxing Championship remains up in the air, as they are still applying for the visas of Naiza Petecio and Winnie Cline Varano for the April 21 to 30 event in Turkey.

Picson explained that ABAP had applied for a Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) clearance as early as March, but it was only released last week.

source: gmanews