Two University of Baguio boxers might join the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which has been postponed for a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Association of Boxing Alliance of the Philippines is confident Southeast Asian Games gold medalists Nesthy Petecio and Carlo Paalam could make it to the qualifying list of those joining the quadrennial event set on July 23 to Aug. 8.
If they qualify, they will join fellow UB athlete Irish Magno, who qualified in 2019 for the Olympics.
ABAP has earlier announced the cancellation of the world boxing Olympic qualifiers in Paris, France in June where Paalam and Petecio are supposed to compete for slots to the Olympics.
With this, ABAP officials are banking on the two boxers, as the International Olympic Committee Boxing Task Force shall base the ranking of boxers to those who would qualify to the Tokyo Olympics.
ABAP Secretary-General Ed Picson is hopeful the two UB pugilists will automatically be seeded to the Olympics, as both are ranked high in the world rankings in their respective weight divisions. Petecio is ranked fifth while Paalam is 12th.
The ABAP is awaiting the list of Tokyo Olympics qualifiers where the Asia-Oceania region is allotted six slots each in both weight categories.
Magno, Petecio, and Paalam have been with the rest of the national boxing team currently holding training with the other Olympic hopefuls at the Inspire Academy in Calamba, Laguna. – Ofelia C. Empian
April 19, 2024
