By REY C. LACHICA
Over the years, or even decades, boxing usually is the first sport that comes to mind every time there is one important international event coming.
The Paris Olympics is no different.
The Philippine boxing team to the 2024 Paris Games that is set to start July 26 has a powerhouse cast – two silver and one bronze medalists from the Covid-delayed 2020 Tokyo Games, and two newcomers who can fight like whirlwind machines at their best.
Comprising the deadly squad are Tokyo runners-up Carlo Paalam and Nesthy Petecio, and bronze winner Eumir Marcial, and Games rookies Aira Villegas and Hergie Bacyadan who are likewise determined to be part of the Olympic lore.
They are tasked to enhance the legacy made by the heroes of yore who accounted for eight of 12 medals won by the country in the world biggest sporting stage.
Yes, they’re not only packed with dynamite in their fists, they’re also toughened by their honest-to-goodness training abroad, and save for Marcial, the four members had to go through the proverbial eye of the needle – fighting in the qualifiers – before finally earning their slots to the global sporting war.
But here’s the catch.
While they’re carrying impressive resumes, success can’t be guaranteed by anyone although they vowed to exert every effort make their dreams a reality.
That’s because each one of them will have a mountain to climb before even reaching the medal round.
Even Marcial who is seeded No. 7 in the light-heavyweight class (80 kilograms) has several dangerous rivals – Chinene Touhetaerbieke Tanglahatian included– to hurdle before matching his bronze medal feat the last time.
Touhetaerbieke was the same rival who beat him for the gold in the Hangzhou Asian Games last year.
Other big names in Marcial’s division are Cuban Arlen Lopez, Ukrainian Oleksandr Khyzhniak, Egyptian Abdelrahman Oralby – just to name the few.
Marcial is now fighting in a higher division which is another challenge to him. In Tokyo, he fought in the middleweight.
That’s also Paalam’s predicament.
From flyweight, Paalam, who earned his Olympic ticket in the Thailand qualifier along with Bacyadan, is now vying in the featherweight, a division loaded with power punchers including one-time tormentor Abdulmalik Khalokov of Uzbekistan.
Like their male counterparts, Petecio (57 kg), Villegas (50 kg.) and Bacyadan (75 kg.) would all be thrown into the lion’s den since they will also be facing seasoned rivals along the way.
Philippine Olympic Committee President Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino is hoping they will get favorable draws in their respective divisions to have better chances.
And who knows, maybe one of them – or all of them – can produce a big punch at their all-important matches.
