Last time in Jakarta, the Philippines wound up at ninth place in the boxing leaderboard of the 2018 Asian Games with a paltry collection of one silver and two bronze medals.
When Hangzhou hosts the 19th edition of the Asiad this September, the Philippines will be going all-out in its pursuit of taking as many top finishes as possible.
Marcus Manalo, the secretary general of the Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines is in the process of finalizing the blueprint for a successful campaign in China.
Manalo said training camps in Thailand as well as Ireland and China are on the horizon for the boxing team, which has been reaping awards right and left the past few years.
In 2018, flyweight Rogen Ladon settled for silver while light-fly Carlo Paalam and middleweight Eumir Marcial bagged bronzes, enabling the Philippines to crack the top ten in the boxing medal standings.
Uzbekistan took first place with a gold-silver-bronze haul of 5-2-0. China came in second with a 2-0-3 and Mongolia ended up third with 1-1-0.
India was fourth (1-0-1), South Korea fifth (1-0-0), North Korea sixth (0-3-1), Kazakhstan seventh (0-2-0) and Thailand eighth (0-1-5) and the Philippines and Chinese-Taipei and Indonesia sharing tenth to eleventh spots (0-0-2).
The ABAP believes the chances of surpassing that meager production in 2018 is high.
Although the team is still gearing up for the tough grind ahead, the ABAP expects the big guns to qualify in a box-off the ABAP is staging in the final weeks before the Asian Games.
Paalam and Ladon should make the grade while Marcial will be a cinch to get his spot given his lofty status.
Marcial, who is now a professional, took the bronze in the Tokyo Olympics while Paalam settled for the silver.
Aside from Paalam and Marcial, also worth watching are Ladon and Ian Clark Bautista, who have both been making a lot of heads turn.
But focus is on the heavy-handed Marcial, who is on the road back to recovery after injuring his right hand.
Marcial has assured Manalo and the ABAP that he will be taking part in Hangzhou since it will serve as a qualifying event for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“Yes!” Manalo answered when asked whether the Zamboanga southpaw has confirmed his participation in China.
Even the Philippine Olympic Committee is thrilled that Marcial is finally lendig a hand to the country’s bold bid to make a splash in Hangzhou.
“Yes, Eumir has committed to fight since the Asian Games is an Olympic qualifying event,” POC president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino said.
Marcial skipped the 32nd Southeast Asian Games in Phnom Penh, owing to his hand injury.
