By JP Abcede
THANYABURI, THAILAND--Welterweight Joel Bacho found
himself the last member standing of the Philippine contingent that was
competing at the Thailand International Boxing Tournament after five of his mates
lost in the quarterfinals.
Bacho demolished Taipei’s Huang Zhao Ching, 5-0, after
beating Cuban Arisnoidys Despaigne in the first round Tuesday. The 24-year-old
local from Mandaluyong will face 2016 World Youth gold medalist Akhmedov
Sadriddin in the semifinals.
“I know he (Sadriddin) is good, but I gained a lot of
confidence with that win over [Despaigne]. Hopefully, it will carry me to the finals
[for] a possible gold here,” declared Bacho.
Those who succumbed to their second round opponents were Carlo
Paalam, who lost to Rio Olympics gold medalist and 2016 AIBA Boxer of the Year
Dusmatov Hasanboy of Uzbekistan, 0-5, in the light flyweight division; as well
as 2015 SEA Games gold medalists flyweight Ian Clark Bautista and bantamweight
Mario Fernandez, who were both defeated by Thai fighters.
James Palicte could not sustain the momentum from his smashing
second round TKO victory over Aussie Patrick McLaughlin, as he was stopped by
Uzbek Rio Olympic bronze medalist Akhmadaliev Murodjon in their lightweight division
bout. Eumir Felix Marcial, meanwhile, was upended by Osley Iglesias Estrada of
Cuba, 2-3.
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