ABAP to send ‘solid and experienced team’ to world joust

The Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (ABAP) will send what an official described as a “solid and experienced team" to the World Boxing Championships on Sept. 1-12 in Milan, Italy. Bemedalled light flyweight campaigner Harry Tañamor spearheads the five-man team which includes bantamweight Joan Tipon, featherweight Charly Suarez, lightweight Joegen Ladon and welterweight Genebert Basadre.

“I think we have a solid team with more than adequate experience to face the formidable opposition in the World Championships," said ABAP executive director Ed Picson. With the exception of Ladon, all the boxers named to the RP team to Milan are veterans of the past world meet held in Chicago, Illinois in 2007 with Tañamor bagging the silver medal in the 48-kg. division. Tipon, the 2006 Doha Asian Games gold medalist, and Suarez bombed out of contention right in their first matches while Basadre lost his fight for a quarterfinals slot. “We are sending five boxers in divisions were we feel we have chances of winning," Picson said. The five are currently undergoing a three-week intensive training in boxing hotbed Havana, Cuba, along with teammates Gerson Nietes, Jimboy Vicera, Francis Aston Palicte and Rey Saludar, who are gearing up for the Southeast Asian Games. Picson said this Cuban training should sharpen their skills in time for the tournament. “The good thing is that they are given the opportunity to test top boxers from Cuba as well as from Venezuela and Brazil who also sent their boxers to Cuba for training," Picson said. "Our boxers are slowly developing more skills and confidence which we need not only for Milan but also for the Laos SEA Games," Picson added. Though ABAP is counting on all five boxers to deliver in the World Championships, the best bet for a medal remains to be the 32-year-old Zamboanga native Tañamor. Before his podium finish in Chicago two years ago, Tañamor was a bronze medalist in the world tilt in 2001 in Belfast, Ireland and 2003 in Bangkok, Thailand. He later won the gold medal in the 2008 Boxing World Cup. He is also a two-time Olympian having competed in Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008. Tañamor remains in tip-top shape and should be a strong contender for a medal in the Milan meet, according to RP coach Pat Gaspi. - GMANews.TV