Wednesday, April 30, 2008 Negrense boxer gains 1 SEA Games gold for RP By Henry C. Villalva
BETTER late than never.
Negros Occidental amateur boxing standout Junie Tizon of Bago City will soon be awarded the boxing gold medal for the 24th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games held last December in Thailand.
The SEA Games Federation has announced that Tizon's Thai opponent and 24th SEA Games gold medalist Suriya Prasathinphimal has been found to have used a banned substance during the competition.
Tizon, who quit after two rounds in the finals, will thus be awarded the gold medal according to Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) spokesman Joey Romasanta in Manila.
It will be recalled that Filipino boxers came home from Thailand with only one gold medal courtesy of Annie Albania in that campaign which was marred by a controversy over officiating which almost led to the country's suspension from the games' boxing competitions.
However, Tizon's gold medal will not affect the country's status in the final overall standings of the 24th SEA Games since the list of athletes penalized for doping violations included Filipina Narcisa Atienza who was likewise stripped of her bronze medal in heptathlon.
Aside from Suriya and Atienza, the other medalists who were stripped of their medals were Thai Supachai Jitchamaroon in volleyball, Vietnam's lady boxer Dinh Thi PhoungThanh and Malaysian polo player Dato Mohamed.
Asked to comment on Tizon's gold medal, Negrense coach Elias Recaido Jr. told Sun.Star Bacolod in a telephone interview Tuesday that he believes Tizon deserves the medal in light of what transpired during that controversy-marred tournament.
"Junie, just like the other RP boxers who were one way or another denied of honors, deserves the gold medal and I'm happy for him," the 1994 Hiroshima Asian Games gold medalist from Bacolod City said.
Suriya is one of Thailand's top boxers having won a bronze medal in the middleweight division during the 2004 Athens Olympics.
Meanwhile, the POC also said it will not question the findings made by the World Anti-Doping Agency on Atienza since the SEA Games Federation's decision is to strictly follow the WADA rules to show that we are 100 percent behind the campaign to rid sports of doping, said POC president Jose "Peping" Cojuangco.
