The Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines is moving on following a futile quest in Rio de Janeiro and is all set to dispatch two teams to key tournaments overseas.
First on the calendar is the Tammer Cup from Oct. 20 to 24 in Tampere, Finland, with members of the men’s Class B taking part.
After Finland, the ABAP is sending a young squad to the World Youth championships set November 17 to 26 in St. Petersburg, Russia.
These two major meets will cap ABAP’s year that saw two entries in the Rio Games get eliminated as early as the preliminary round.
Light-fly Rogen Ladon drew a first-round bye but was beaten in his second round match, while lightweight Charly Suarez was defeated in his first outing, denying boxing the bid to and a 20-year drought.
Last time boxing delivered was in 1996 when Onyok Velasco went home with a silver from Atlanta.
The boxers are in the thick of training in Baguio City, main hub of the Abap’s training headquarters.
In 2017, the main slugfests on tap are the Southeast Asian Games in Malaysia in August and the 2017 world championships that will be hosted by Hamburg in Germany.