Alliances of Boxing Association in the Philippines (ABAP) executive director Ed Picson yesterday said no boxer is assured of a spot in the Asian Games next year in Indonesia.
“Walang shoo-in sa amin, unless na magpakita ka talaga,” said Picson who made the reminder during the team’s Christmas Party held last week.
“I reminded them it doesn’t matter whether you’re a gold medallist in SEA Games, or kung ano man ang mga achievements mo. Kung magpapa-jogging-jogging ka lang, hindi ka makukuha. You have to prove yourself.
“Hindi pwede na you rely on your past achievements. Tapos na ‘yun eh. You’re only as good as your last fight. After that, wala na ‘yun. Back to zero na. Pantay-pantay na ulit silang lahat,” he said.
While there’s a cloud of uncertainty over three boxing events that will be removed from the Asiad competitions, Picson said that he is keeping his focus more on helping the national team boxers gain enough exposure, both here and abroad.
“Well, tuluy-tuloy naman ang training ng team,” he said, adding the have recently launched the “Battle of Champions” among the country’s national team aspirants.
“That’s part of our evaluation for the Asian Games,” said Picson. “It will be a caravan fight tournament. Iikot ‘yan sa iba’t bang lugar featuring our national team boxers to keep them in competitive form and at the same time get them familiar with the competition environment.”
Picson said they are also in close coordination with different boxing federations for a possible training camp overseas. “Maraming training camps and international exposure na pina-plano but we still have to wait the calendar ng ibang bansa na mag-o-organize ng mga tournaments,” he said.
The PH boxing team won two golds, one silver and two bronzes in last August’s Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Touted fighter Eumir Felix Marcial claimed the gold medal in the middleweight class while hard-hitting Fil-Briton John Marvin also achieved the same feat in the light heavyweight division. (Jerome Lagunzad)