Rising RP junior boxers in Guam for goodwill tourney

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine team, dubbed the future of RP boxing, arrived early Thursday morning at the majestic Micronesian island of Guam ready and in high spirits for the Goodwill Amateur Boxing Tournament scheduled this weekend at the Guam Sports Complex in Hagåtña. Nolito "Boy" Velasco and three-tiime Olympian Romeo Brin coach the six-member squad composed of rising ring prospects Rolando Tacuyan, Jimboy Vicera, Mark John Rey Melligen, Adonis Cabalquinto, Aston Francis Palicte, and lone female bet Nesthy Petecio. The day-long meet, set Saturday, pits all six Filipinos against young bets from Guam in a friendly tournament expected to benefit both countries’ sports program. Petecio, the youngest in the group at 16, will fight in the featherweight class (57 kg), while Vicera and Meligen, whose brothers were also former RP team members, are seeing action as light welterweight divisions (64 kg). Cabalquinto, the oldest at 20, is in the heaviest division of welterweight (69 kgs); Palicte is listed in bantamweight (54 kg), while Tacuyan tips the scales in lightweight (60 kg). The event serves as the first international exposure of the national team under the new Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (ABAP) leadership headed by president Ricky Vargas and chairman Manny V. Pangilinan. Except for Petecio, a Davao native seeing action in her first international contest, the rest had been to separate tournaments overseas and even attended a 23-day training camp in Cuba last year. From Cuba, Tacuyan and Palicte went straight to Mexico and joined the RP squad that competed in the inaugural World Youth Championships in Guadalajara. "Magandang exposure po para sa amin ito. Malaking tulong para mapalakas ‘yung kumpiyansa namin [This is a good exposure for us. It will help boost our confidence]," said Rolando, one of two fighting Tacuyan brothers whom Velasco believes is a potential Olympic medalist in the 2012 London Games. The Guam Amateur Boxing Federation (GABF), headed by former Golden Gloves veteran Cano Collazo-Cruz, made the meet possible in cooperation with ABAP vice president Manny Lopez, team manager Liberato Reyna Jr. and the office of Guam Gov. Felix Perez Camacho. “This is a good training exposure for the boxers in the island while at the same time, maintaining close ties and friendship with the Filipinos, who comprised at least 30 to 40 percent of the population here," said Collazo-Cruz, a Puerto Rican who has lived in this US territory for more than three decades now. The entire RP team, together with their Guam counterparts, were presented in a press conference at the luxurious Outrigger Guam Resort later in the day. – GMANews.TV