By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Tokyo Olympic silver medalists Carlo Paalam and Nesthy Petecio spearhead the promising Philippine team that left for Sofia, Bulgaria Friday night, Feb. 17 to compete in the 74th Strandja International Boxing Tournament.
The event, considered as the oldest boxing competition in Europe, is expected to gather some 470 athletes from 42 nations to battle it all out starting Feb. 20 to 26.
Paalam will see action in the 54kg while Petecio will compete in the 57kg.
Joining Paalam in the men’s division are Marvin Tabano (51kg), Asian Elite Boxing Championship bronze medalist Junmilardo Ogayre (57kg), Paul Julyfer Gascon (60kg) and Southeast Asian Games bronze medalist James Palicte (63.5kg).
Female fighters seeing action aside from Petecio are Cleo Tesara (48kg), Thailand Open silver medalist Aira Villegas (50kg), Tokyo Olympian and SEA Games silver medalist Irish Magno (52kg) and Maricel Dela Toree (54kg).
Coaches Don Abnett, Roel Velasco, Rey Galido and Mitchel Martinez accompany the squad.
The tournament is expected to be one of the training grounds for the Filipino pugs for upcoming higher-level competitions such as the World Women’s Boxing Championships slated March 15 to 31 in New Delhi, India and the 32nd Southeast Asian Games in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on May 5 to 17.
