MANILA – Negrense boxers Rogen Ladon and James Palicte will lead the eight-man Philippine boxing team in the 2018 Asian Games which opens today in Indonesia.
The Bago City native Ladon, a 2017 Rio Olympian, will be competing in the 52 kg class. He is coming from a silver medal finishes in Kalpori Cup in Indonesia and the 2018 President’s International Boxing Cup in Astana, Kazakhstan recently.
Palicte, who also hails from Bago City, will be participating in the 60 kg weight category.
On his way to Asian Games, Palicte finished with a silver medal in the 1st Thailand Open International Boxing 2018 in Bangkok, Thailand.
Aside from Ladon and Palicte, also in the national team’s roster are veteran Mario Fernandez (56 kgs), Eumir Marcial (75 kgs), Joel Bacho (69 kgs), Carlo Paalam (49 kgs), and women boxers Irish Magno (51 kgs) and Nesty Petecio (57 kgs).
Ed Picson, executive director of the Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (ABAP), is optimistic that the Philippine boxing team can deliver a medal in the tournament.
“As always, we picked boxers who we feel have a chance to win a medal. We were initially allowed 10 boxers but we decided to send only eight,” said Picson.
“We’re upbeat about this team. They’ve performed well in several international competitions this year as well as in training camps,” he added. “Hopefully, these will translate into medals in Jakarta.”
During the 2014 edition, the Filipino boxers only took home one medal — a bronze courtesy of Fernandez, while the last time the Philippine delegation won a gold was in 2010 courtesy of Rey Saludar.
Philippines’ best finish in Asian Games boxing was in the 1994 Hiroshima Games when it won a total of three gold medals courtesy of Negrense Mansueto Velasco (light flyweight), Elias Recaido (flyweight) and Reynaldo Galido (light welterweight)./PN
