ABAP eyes hosting one of two Olympic Asia qualifying meets

MANILA, Philippines – Hosting one of the two Asia qualifying tournaments for the 2012 London Olympics is one of the plans the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (ABAP) for the coming years. ABAP president Ricky Vargas made known their plans to Amateur International Boxing Association (AIBA) president Dr. Ching-Kuo Wu, whom the ABAP contingent visited recently in Taipei. Kazakhstan and Thailand hosted the two Asian qualifying tournaments for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Vargas, along with secretary general Patrick Gregorio and executive director Ed Picson, presented an audio-visual presentation to Wu about ABAP’s plans saying that "because the Philippines is important to AIBA and boxing is important to the Filipino people." ABAP’s other plan is to acquire an Asian franchise for the World Series of Boxing in September 2010 and bid for the third AIBA Boxing Academy following Quebec and Moscow. The World Series of Boxing is a professional league where four cities in five continents will compete for the championship. Each team will have a roster of 10 with at least three imports. Courses related to boxing will be offered in the boxing academy. For his part, Wu told the ABAP contingent that they are doing their best to cleanse the AIBA ranks. He reported that AIBA had already suspended its secretary general, two vice presidents, and five executive committee members for acts contrary to the organization. “My goal is to make AIBA free of suspicion, clean, honest and transparent," said Wu, who was joined by special assistant Jason Hsieh and medical consultant Dr. Jerry Yu. “If you go against what is right, you pay the price." – GMANews.TV