Boxing has produced the most number of Olympians for the Philippines.
Except for the 1924 and 1928 Games, the Philippines has sent a boxing representative in each of the last 20 editions it participated in, with Filipino boxers accounting for eight of the 14 medals the country has won in the history of the Olympics.
So as it celebrates 100 years of Olympic participation, highlighted by a breakthrough gold medal courtesy of weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz in the previous Tokyo Games, it should be fitting for the Philippines to capture that slippery boxing mint.
That is the goal in the Paris Games as Nesthy Petecio, Carlo Paalam, and Eumir Marcial get another shot at Olympic glory, with debutants Hergie Bacyadan and Aira Villegas in tow.
It marks the Philippines’ biggest boxing delegation since it also sent five boxers to the 1996 Atlanta Games, where Mansueto “Onyok” Velasco settled for silver following what many felt an incorrectly judged final loss to Bulgaria’s Daniel Petrov.
“That’s everyone’s hope, for us to be able to finally get that elusive gold medal,” said Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (ABAP) secretary general Marcus Jarwin Manalo.
“Of course, all of us want that. That’s the North Star of the team.”
Unfinished business
But winning an Olympic gold is no easy feat.
And if there is one who knows that it takes great pains to achieve that, it is Petecio, who came oh-so close in Tokyo as she bagged silver after bowing to Japan’s Irie Sena via unanimous decision in the final.
While Sena will not be coming back to defend her throne following her retirement last year, the women’s 57kg division still provides an arduous challenge, with Petecio regarding Tokyo bronze medalist Irma Testa of Italy, two-time world champion Lin Yu-ting of Chinese Taipei, and Asian titlist Karina Ibragimova of Kazakhstan as her strongest rivals.
“The boxers now are on a different level. If I went through the eye of the needle last time, it will be harder this time around,” said Petecio.
It goes the same for Paalam, who will compete at the heavier men’s 57kg after nailing a silver in the men’s 52kg in Tokyo.
Taller foes await Paalam, including world champions Abdumalik Khalokov of Uzbekistan, who demolished the Filipino in the quarterfinals of the last Asian Games, Jahmal Harvey of the United States, and Makhmud Sabyrkhan of Kazakhstan.
What Paalam lacks in height, though, he aims to make up with guile.
“They’re tall, so I rely on my smarts and self-belief. I won’t win if I don’t believe in myself,” said Paalam. “I’ll do my best every fight so I won’t have any regrets.”
Marcial also moved up to the men’s 80kg after the men’s 75kg category where he won bronze in Tokyo got scrapped for Paris.
Initially harboring doubts about an Olympic return due to the need for a weight class switch, Marcial – who is undefeated in five fights as a professional boxer – has grown optimistic as he seeks to complete his unfinished business in Paris.
Standing in his way are the likes of two-time Olympic champion Arlen Lopez of Cuba, reigning world champion Nurbek Oralbay of Kazakhstan, and Tokyo silver medalist Oleksandr Khyzhniak of Ukraine, who edged Marcial via split decision in the semifinals.
“I’m confident in my preparation,” said Marcial, who trained in the United States before joining the national team in its training camps in Metz, France, and Saarbrucken, Germany.
“When it comes to boxing, we all know that we have no control of the results because we have judges and referees. But with the training I’m doing, I know for myself that we have a good chance of getting the gold medal in the Paris Olympics.”
Seizing the moment
After many detours, all roads seemed to lead to Paris for Bacyadan.
Originally a wushu athlete, the pride of Kalinga tried her hand at boxing and made the national team, even striking gold in the 2019 ASBC Asian Grand Slam Boxing Championships in Xiamen, China.
But in the same year she won her biggest prize in boxing, Bacyadan left the sport and eventually pursued vovinam, the Vietnamese martial art where she won a world title and a silver in the Southeast Asian Games last year.
Given another chance by ABAP to return to the national team, Bacyadan seized the moment in the second World Qualification Tournament in Bangkok, Thailand, in June as she became the last Filipino boxer to qualify for Paris.
“It’s probably the Lord’s will to bring me back here and finish the plans that I failed to do before,” said Bacyadan, who needs just two wins in the women’s 80kg to guarantee herself of an Olympic medal.
“I got depressed because I didn’t know which sport I should pursue. Everything that happened to me worked to my advantage. I’m proud of myself that I overcame all of the challenges I went through.”
Like Bacyadan, Villegas also battled self-doubt.
Starting in boxing at the young age of nine years old as she followed in the footsteps of her older brother, Villegas said she had never won a gold medal in a competition before her breakthrough victory in the Boxam Elite Tournament in Alicante, Spain, in February.
A month later, the Tacloban native secured a top-four finish in the women’s 50kg category of the first World Qualification Tournament in Busto Arsizio, Italy, to clinch her Paris berth.
The pair of accomplishments only proved Villegas belonged.
“I never saw my own potential. A lot of people are saying that I’m good, but I never saw it that way,” said Villegas. “But I realized that I should believe in the people who see something in me.”
Strongest five
A lot of factors come into play in winning an Olympic gold.
Injuries, seedings, pairings, and even judges’ preferences affect how far a boxer will go, but Manalo said the squad is focused on things it has control of.
“The gold is not completely under our control. What is completely under our control is the preparation, our own performances, how we take care of our bodies, how we support their well-being,” said Manalo.
“It will just be a natural byproduct of all the hard work and the efforts of the whole team – boxers, coaches, support staff, officials, sponsors, everyone.”
For national team coach Ronald Chavez, the Philippines put together the best crew for Paris.
“Out of all the teams I coached in the Olympics, this five is the strongest,” said Chavez, who represented the country in the 1992 Barcelona Games. “I won’t say what color of medal they’re going to win, but I’m sure this five will deliver.” – Rappler.com