The three-man Philippine boxing team that trained and competed in the United States recently is back.
Led by 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympian Rogen Ladon, the Filipinos arrived at Team USA’s headquarters in Colorado Springs last month with Australian coach Don Abnett.
Apart from the veteran Ladon, who is a two-time Southeast Asian Games champion and 2018 Asian Games silver medalist, also part of the squad was Hergie Bacyagan and Aira Villegas.
Villegas actually settled for silver after losing to Hu Meiyi of China in the final of the USA Boxing International Invitational in Pueblo, Colorado.
Ladon and Bacyadan were ousted in the quarterfinal round.
The Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines said the US trip is part of the buildup for the 2023 Southeast Asian Games in Phnom Penh and the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games.
The Philippines is determined to make a splash in the Cambodia SEA Games after it brought home three gold medals from Hanoi courtesy of middleweight Eumir Marcial, bantamweight Ian Clark Bautista and Ladon.
