Saturday, October 28, 2006 Tipon secures finals berth in Tammer Cup By Henry C. Villalva
NEGRENSE amateur boxing star Joan Tipon of Talisay City, Negros Occidental barged into the finals of the 2006 Tammer Cup International Boxing Championship in Tampere, Finland recently.
The 23rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games bantamweight gold medalist and Asian Championship best boxer awardee stopped local entry Al Khagani in the third round to advance.
Two other members of the Asian Games-bound RP boxing team-lightweight Genebert Basadre and flyweight Violito Payla, outclassed their respective semi-final opponents to get a crack at the gold medal in this week-long tournament featuring leading amateur boxers from Asia, Africa and Europe.
Payla and Basadre registered Referee Stopped Contest-Outclassed (second round) victories over Canadian Ryan Ranelli and Danish Nogaad Rugemalira, respectively.
But two other Filipino bets-light welterweight Delfin Bololst and welterweight Francis Joven, however, settled for the bronze medal after they lost their semi-final assignments.
Boholst succomed to Finnish Jussi Koivula, 30-15, who outboxed him during their bout, while Joven suffered a cut on the left eye in his third round bout and boxed to his rival from Africa.
The Filipino boxers are using their stint in this prestigious competition as final tune-up prior to their departure for Doha, Qatar where they will represent the country in the 15th Asian Games scheduled December 1 to 15.
Six other Negrenses are campaigning in the Asiad. They are golfer Anya Tanpinco, judoka John Baylon, hammer thrower Arneil Ferrera, beach volleyball's Rhovyl Verayo, billiards ace Rey Grandea and hurdler Joebert Delicano.
(October 28, 2006 issue) Write letter to the editor. Click here. Join the Sun.Star message board. Click here.
