Friday, November 02, 2007 Mixed fortunes for RP pugs
HARRY Tañamor got his most cherished dream of earning yet another trip to the Olympics, but compatriots Violito Payla and Genebert Basadre failed in their respective bids as the Philippine campaign got mixed results Wednesday in the World Boxing Championships.
Tañamor battled Sherali Dostiev of Tadjikistan to a 4-4 standoff after four rounds, but was awarded the victory after the tiebreaker in their hard-fought light flyweight encounter.
With the victory, Tañamor barged into the quarterfinals and earned a ticket to the 2008 Beijing Games and in the process matched the record of Rome Brin, who qualified in three Olympiads.
Dostiev was the same fighter whom Tañamor demolished in the Athens Games back in 2004, the second time that he competed in the world's greatest sporting show after first appearing in the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
It was a sweet victory for Tañamor, but the Philippine delegation will later taste a gloomy experience when Payla lost to Raushee Warren of the US and Basadre bowed to Hrachik Javakhyan of Armenia.
Payla absorbed an 11-25 defeat at the hands of the crafty American boxer in a flyweight match. Basadre went down to the Armenian by the score of 17-6 in their lightweight showdown.
Warren, who also competed in the Athens Games, overcame a sore shoulder and bloody nose to earn another trip to the Olympics.
"Beijing here I come, that's all I can say," Warren said.
When he competes in the 2008 games, he will become the first American boxer since Davey Lee Armstrong in 1976 to participate in two Olympics.
Warren was just 17 and the youngest member of the 2004 US Olympic boxing team when he traveled to Athens in 2004 and lost in his first match.
Eschewing a professional career, Warren now has a chance to get what he says he's always wanted.
Wearing an American flag draped over his shoulders as he came into the ring, Warren came out quickly, scoring four points in the first 30 seconds and going up 9-1 after one round. But somewhere during those opening two minutes he hurt his right shoulder.
Warren led 13-3 after two rounds and 19-7 after three as Payla closed in and became aggressive, drawing some blood from the American's nose.
"I was using my energy and trying to keep the blood from coming down," Warren said. "I can't just hold it up. I kept wiping it on my glove and I'd gladly wipe it on him."
Before the event even began, Warren predicted he'd make the finals of the World Boxing Championships. He needs two more wins to do that. (With a report from AP)
