QIAN’AN, HEBEI PROVINCE, CHINA – Light Flyweight Rogen Ladon, still ecstatic over his big win yesterday to earn a slot in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics later this year, fell short of his mission to preserve his lofty number one position here as he narrowly lost his finals bout with Hasanboy Dusmatov of Uzbekistan Friday afternoon.
The scores were 29-28, 28-29 and 29-28, giving his old nemesis a split decision in the second match of the penultimate day of competitions which awards 30 slots for the 2016 Summer Olympiad.
Ladon gamely exchanged punches with Dusmatov who also decisioned him in a similarly close finals bout at the Asian Confederation Boxing Championships in Bangkok last September.
The diminutive Uzbek seemed to have had the better of the exchanges.
Likewise unable to gain a win and the last Olympic ticket in the bantamweight class was Bukidnon’s Mario Fernandez who was shut out by a wily Kazakh, Kairat Yeraliyev, with the three judges scoring it uniformly at 30-27.