By MARK REY MONTEJO
Mark Ashley Fajardo, Robert Malunoc Jr., Jay Bryan Baricuatro and Flint Jara settled for bronze medals after losing in their respective semifinal bouts in the 2024 ASBC Asian Under 22 and Youth Boxing Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan.
Fajardo, who turned heads after scoring two straight TKO victories in the early stage, succumbed to hometown bet Yerassyl Tankay in their men’s U22 light welterweight (63.5kg) clash where the referee halted the bout in the second frame.
The pride of Talisay, Cebu went down in the opening round as his Kazakh rival fired a powerful left hook to his jaw that all but ended his campaign.
Another son of Talisay, Baricuatro came short for a finals spot after yielding to Indian Suresh Vishvanath in the men’s U22 minimumweight (48kg).
Malunoc on the other hand, almost pulled off a surprise after an aggressive start but his effort fell short, absorbing a 4-1 defeat to Tajik Muinkhodzha Muminov in the men’s youth minimumweight (48kg).
Meanwhile, Jara was floored in the second round and never recovered his bearing against Mongolian Enkhasaikhan Oyun-Erdene in the men’s junior bantamweight (54kg) duel.