RP boxers shake SEA Games with a protest punch
By Recah Trinidad
Inquirer
Last updated 01:04:00 12/14/2007
Most Read
Other Most Read Stories x
News
o Arroyo seeks return of subversion law
o Malacañang on warpath, tags Serge Osmeña
o Charges vs Guingona, other civilians at Manila Pen dismissed
o Opposition senators vow: Razon won’t run power grid
o RP boxers shake SEA Games with a protest punch
o Released Manila Pen civilians form new group
o Esperon: I’m ready to go with clear conscience
o Transport strike fizzles out
o 18 civilians freed; Trillanes, Lim charged
o ‘Take back praises for Arroyo on human rights’
o Customs couple fails lifestyle check, faces corruption rap
o Sumilao farmers’ plaint: The bigger picture
News Most Read RSS
Close this
NAKHON RATCHASIMA, THAILAND -- Protest walkouts in two of seven title fights by the Philippine team Thursday landed like a foul blow and rocked the boxing championships in the 24th Southeast Asian Games.
The ring competitions were dominated by the host Thais, who bagged a record 16 gold medals against only one by the dethroned Filipinos.
After Thailand captured the first two gold medals in the pinweight and light flyweight divisions, championship action was rudely jolted inside the full-house Meaungpug Municipal Gymnasium here when Filipino flyweight Godfrey Castro spat out his mouthpiece and pulled off his gloves at the sound of the bell in his bout against Thai star Somjit Jongjohor.
To the shock and joy of the Thai crowd, Jongjohor’s right hand was raised and Castro declared the loser by retirement -- referee stopped contest retired (RSC-R).
In the succeeding bout, spectators became restive after bantamweight Junel Cantancio reprised Castro’s protest move, pulling off his head gear at the sound of the first bell against Thai Worapoj Petchkoom, to surrender another gold medal without receiving a punch.
The protest move by the RP squad in the 10-bout men’s boxing championships featuring seven Filipinos against Thai rivals threatened to turn the event into a farce.
Thai fans, obviously treating the RP protest as a punch below the belt, threatened to misbehave as frantic International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) officials, headed by president Wu Ching-kuo of Chinese Taipei, held an emergency meeting in a bid to resolve the unexpected controversy.
After a tense lull that saw a couple of Filipino media men pulling off and hiding their identification cards, the resumption of action, featuring RP featherweight Orlando Tacuyan against Thailand’s Sailom Adi, was announced.
‘We sent our message’
Tacuyan, together with four more RP finalists, lost their bouts against Thai foes. The remaining Filipinos either got beaten clean or, swamped early, turned their backs in mock surrender.
“We had sent our message and we also feared possible sanction from the international boxing body,” RP chief of mission and Bacolod Rep. Monico Puentevella told the Inquirer.
He said they had to resort to the two-bout walkout to protest what he called grossly unfair officiating in the women’s boxing championships on Wednesday, where the Filipinos won only one of the six gold medals contested against Thailand.
With POC imprimatur
Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines president Manny Lopez said the walkout, in the form of two outright surrenders, had the approval of the RP boxers and the entire coaching staff.
It also had the imprimatur of the Philippine Olympic Committee.
“Lopez is our officer. He, as an NSA head, is part of the Olympic body. We respected and supported his move,” Puentevella explained.
Lopez explained that he was particularly maddened by what he called shabby and rude treatment Filipino women fighters received from the judges during their championship bouts, where the Filipinas salvaged a lone gold against six Thai rivals.
‘Not to our women’
“If the cheating had been done against our male boxers, we would not have protested at all, but not to our women fighters. Binastos talaga nila (They really insulted them),” Lopez said.
Puentevella said the RP women’s team could have easily picked a second gold on Wednesday if there had been fairer scoring in the final bout featuring defending lightweight champion Mitchel Martinez.
Martinez had a strong start but faded rapidly and was outpointed, 11-21, by Thailand’s Sumittra Ngoksungnoen.
With its sweep of 10 men’s championships and six final wins in the women’s division, Thailand amassed 16 gold medals in boxing, a Southeast Asian Games record.
Discrepancies in scoring
The RP team sent a relatively weaker boxing squad, mainly in the men’s division, where only Class B fighters were fielded.
The Filipinos practically had no chance of retaining the boxing championship they won in Bacolod City two years ago.
There, indeed, had been several discrepancies in scoring in the women’s championship on Wednesday but a review of the bouts, as done by several media men inside the NBN tent at the International Broadcast Center here, showed that Thailand, on the whole, managed to dominate women’s action because it fielded a younger, determined and superior team.
But the RP team, despite a so-so showing in boxing, scored a historic blow with the protest walkout that shook the championships.
RP BOXERS UNSPORTMANLIKE WALKOUT IN 24TH SEA GAMES
Reply With Quote
Posting Permissions
