No gold rush today for the Philippine boxing team.
On Saturday, four of the nine Filipino boxers who made it to the finals, had the chance to put a golden finish to their Southeast Asian (SEA) Games stint. Unfortunately, only Ian Clark Bautista will take home a gold, as Roger Ladon, Riza Pasuit, and Irish Magno all lost to superior foes in their respective gold medal matches.
Bautista defended his men's 57 kg division crown with a dominant victory over Indonesia’s Asri Udin. The now two-time SEA Games champion was clinical, landing telling blows to both the head and body of the outmatched Indonesian. The Filipino was so dominant that he even scored a standing eight count in the final round. He won by scores of 30-26 from two judges, 30-27 from two more judges, and 30-28 from the last judge.
Ladon, who also won gold in the 31st SEA Games in Hanoi like Bautista, could not replicate his golden run from last year, as he dropped a unanimous decision loss to Thailand’s Thanarat Saengphet in the final of the 51 kg weight class. Ladon just could not figure out the speedier Thai, who used quick, precise punching and slick defense to frustrate the Filipino. Three of the five judges scored all three rounds for Saengphet, while the other two favored the Thai in two of the three rounds.
On the distaff side, both Pasuit and Magno proved no match against their respective opponents, with Magno losing to many-time tormentor Jutamas Jitpong of Thailand in the final of women's 54 kg category. As she did in the 2020 OIympics, Jitpong kept Magno at bay with quick, well-timed punches and fluid movement to coast to a shutout, with all five judges scoring the fight 30-27 for the Thai boxer.
Things were much the same for Pasuit, who was unable to crack the defense of Vietnam’s Thi Linh Ha. The Vietnamese boxer was masterful against the aggressive Filipina, countering perfectly and giving Pasuit very few chances to land anything consequential. After three rounds, all five judges also scored the fight 30-27 for Ha to deny Pasuit the gold in the women's 63 kg category.
The Philippine boxing team will get five more cracks at a golden finish on Sunday, with Carlo Paalam, Paul Bascon, John Marvin, and the Petecio siblings, Norlan and Nesthy, all scheduled to fight in their respective finals.