SEA Games: ABAP irked at head-scratcher results in boxing

BANGKOK — The Philippine boxing team has been amiss so far in delivering what was expected to be a plethora medals to aid Team Philippines in its SEA Games 2025 bid  after some head scratching losses to favored bets like Nesthy Petecio and Hergie Bacyadan.

Both Olympians, Petecio and Bacyadan fell in the semis of their respective divisions, losing their only match of the biennial meet due to a bye in the quarterfinals.

Against their opponents, the two Filipino boxers fell via split decision, and the nature of how things transpired has left fans — and the Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (ABAP) — scratching their heads.

Despite seeming like the more aggressive fighter, judges scored the Filipino pugs lower in the last round, while also handing some penalties late in the case of Bacyadan.

ABAP Secretary General Marcus Manalo did not mince his words when he was asked to comment on the performance of the team so far. He didn’t talk down on his athletes, but he did reserve some choice statements for the officials.

“They’re doing well naman. Wala pa naman tayong masasabing performance na talagang something that we cannot be proud of so far. But obviously, there are just results that are not going our way,” Manalo told POC Media at the venue on Saturday. 

“Ang pinakamasakit na itong kay Nesthy kasi di bale sana kung aggressive yung Indonesia in the last round, or if she was throwing accurate punches that were landing. But in terms of volume, in terms of accuracy, pareho kay Nesthy, so parang walang basis talaga para ibigay yung round dun sa Indonesia. Lalo na 4-1 pa yung score in the last round,” he added.

Social media was also abuzz with the result, especially seeing a multi-medalist in the Olympics crash out so early in the SEA Games.

But Manalo said that there was no mistake about it, because even those who they would expect to root against the Philippines were also actually confused at how things transpired, opening up even more questions. 

“Even the Thai officials, couldn’t believe the result. More importantly, even Indonesian sports minister was surprised with the result but unfortunately, that’s how it is in boxing, there’s no bout review, there’s no protest,” Manalo said. 

“[The] technical delegate doesn’t want to speak to me, but I’ll chase him up tomorrow. So, yun. It’s just quite frustrating the past few bouts,” he continued.

Chasing integrity

While Manalo knows that efforts may be futile to actually overturn the results, he believes that there still needs to be worked on — especially as the sport faces a crossroads at the Olympic level because of similar issues. 

“Di naman bago ito sa boxing unfortunately. But part of the things that we have to deal with. Pero you know the sport really has to be better in terms of integrity, otherwise, baka we don’t really deserve to be in the Olympics beyond 2028 kasi di natin mapakita sa mundo na may integrity tayo when it comes to refereeing and judging,” said Manalo.

As the boxing team moves forward with only two bronzes on the board days into the competition, Manalo just wants to get things over with in a fair and equal manner.

“Even if there is no chance to overturn the bout, at least, tignan niyo lang kung ano yung nangyayari. Just for them to be aware… So, ayun yun lang naman ang pwede natin magawa kasi yung results, di naman narereview. Walang bout review, there’s no protest. So walang way talaga to challenge it,” he said.

Boxing still has a ways to go here in the SEA Games, with bouts extending up until the day before the closing ceremonies. The event concludes with the gold medal matches across divisions on December 19.

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Luisa Morales is a sports writer with a special interest in promoting women’s sports.

Her coverage highlights include the UAAP, PVL, Southeast Asian Games, and the FIBA World Cup. She also follows Alex Eala, the Philippine women’s national football team, and mixed martial arts.