Pinoy boxer Tipon beats rival but Ladon falls

MILAN - Bantamweight Joan Tipon won on points over a raw Sri Lankan but lightweight Joegin Ladon fell to a superior Briton as Team Philippines split its assignments on Wednesday (Thursday in Manila) in the 15th AIBA World boxing championships here.

The 27-year-old Tipon beat former sparring partner Kamai Gamathiralalage, 8-3, needing a third-round explosion to clinch the win and advance to the round-of-32 where a tough Abdelhaim Ouradi of Algeria is waiting in the wings. But the Filipinos missed keeping their record intact when Ladon proved to be an easy target for the much-taller Thomas Stalker of England and took a 4-11 beating to become the first casualty for the five-member RP squad. Tipon joined light-welterweight Genebert Basadre, the first to see action for the Filipinos, into the next round. Basadre touched off the Philippine campaign Wednesday (Manila time) by beating Pakistan’s Aamir Khan. A former Asian Games champion who once thought of hanging up his gloves after his career went to a tailspin, Tipon connected with one good punch after another in the third round to turn what had started a close contest into a blowout. “Malaki ang ginaling," said Tipon of the Sri Lankan, whom he sparred with several times during a training camp in Baguio City while preparing for the 2007 world championships in Chicago. Rusty Tipon’s lack of poise in the first and second rounds didn’t escape the attention of coaches Pat Gaspi and Ronald Chavez, who said that was expected from someone who rested from fighting in the big stage for so long. “Nangangapa pa siya (Tipon) noong una. Halata naman kasi na walang lantik at ganda ang suntok,’’ said Gaspi moments after Tipon had given Team RP its second win in the 144-nation tournament. From a close 3-2 lead at the end of the second round, Tipon made it 5-2 as he scored with three right straights against the fast-tiring Sri Lankan going into the last 64 seconds of the third round. Although sensing victory was practically in the bag, the chinky-eyed Bacolod City native did not drop his guard. He made it 6-3 as he sneaked in a right cross during a toe-to-toe exchange before scoring again with two head blows inside 47 seconds to win pulling away. The going is expected to be tough for Tipon on Sunday (Manila time) when he faces Ouradi, a hard-punching, quick-moving Algerian who made Indonesian Matias Mandiangan look like he was competing in a backyard tournament after scoring a 16-3 triumph. The Pinoy coaches watched the Algerian in action before heading back to the hotel, confident Tipon can handle the job against Ouradi, who’s definitely no stranger to fighting in the big stage. “May laban. Pareho lang namang may dalawang kamay,’’said Chavez, smiling. Pitiful sight A pitiful sight to behold was Ladon, who couldn’t connect with a decent punch for two rounds and fell behind by a wide margin, 0-8, in a match that pitted one who’s tall in size against one who’s big in heart. In this bout, height mattered a lot. Shorter by at least four inches at 5-foot-3, Ladon earned his first two points only when the referee penalized the taller Stalker for punching with open gloves several times in the second round. Ladon, a native of Bago City, didn’t get his two other points until the closing seconds of the third when the Briton started to take it easy and got hit with two right hand blows. "Hindi maabot,’’ was all Gaspi can say of Ladon's experience against Stalker. - GMANews.TV