Violito Payla breezes into finals of Nat'l Open Boxing

Flyweight Violito Payla easily crushed Joemel Bilbar in their semifinals bout at the 2007 Smart National Open Boxing Championships Thursday night, according to statement issued on Friday by the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines. Without wasting much energy, Payla quickly sized up Bilbar, a native of Talisay, Negros Occidental, in the first round. Then in the second round, he went all out with accurate punches, outscoring his foe in a referee-stopped contest (RSC) win, just 61 seconds into the round. Payla, one of four Filipino athletes who won gold medals in the 2006 Doha Asian Games, thus made it to the finals of the weeklong slug fest being held in Cagayan de Oro City, in front of the Misamis Oriental Capitol. Rey Saludar also had impressive showing in the flyweight semifinals when he outscored Hopewell Galupo of Malaybalay, Bukidnon, right on the first round, in another RSC victory. The other contestants who made it to the finals were: • Orlando Tacuyan of Angeles City and Charlie Suarez of Davao Del Norte-A Making in the featherweight class • Frederick de la Cruz of Davao City-A and Albert Pabila of the Philippine Navy-Bago City in the light flyweight category More quick victories Tacuyan, one of the biggest revelations in the annual event, continued to mesmerize spectators with his ring prowess. Tall and quick with punishing punches, the 19-year-old pugilist, son of a former boxer and coach, pulled off the most convincing victory of the day – an RSC-compulsory count limit contest against local bet Virgil Basadre of Misamis Oriental. "Yung depensa niya medyo duon ako nakalamang, nalusutan ko, di makaya," Tacuyan said. Tacuyan is a training pool member who has not won a major event except in the Asian Cadet and Junior Boxing Tournament in Vietnam where he won gold when he was only 17 years old. Tacuyan will meet Charlie Suarez of Davao del Norte-A for a shot at a gold medal. Suarez won over Davao City's Argie Laput via an RSC-outscored decision just 57 seconds into the first round. "Yung laban ko sa kanya (Suarez), maganda laban yan, paghahandaan ko, di pwede magkumpyansa," Tacuyan said. Pabila survived a mighty onslaught by Marvin Somodio of Baguio City, winning on points, 31-27, in a close fight in the light flyweight class earlier. "Medyo minadali ko na rin siya kasi mabilis din siya, training pool din kasi siya, kaya di pwede relax," Pabila said. "Abang lang akong abang dahil may kabilisan siya. Alam din kasi niya ang galaw ko, kaya ginamit ko na lang yung reach ko." Pabila had upset Harry Tanamor earlier in the tournament. He will gun for the gold medal on Friday against Frederick de la Cruz of Davao City. Cruz won on points over Ariel Pama of Iligan City, 23-15. - GMANews.TV