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| Rogen Ladon |
By JP Abcede
MANILA--Filipino fighters Rogen Ladon and Dannel Maamo booked a flight to Germany to compete at the AIBA World Boxing Championships Hamburg 2017 that will take place from Aug. 25 to Sept. 5.
Maamo and Rio Olympian Ladon will be representing the country and are just two of the 280 fighters, which includes 18 2016 Olympic medalists, competing in the tournament. The Philippines has won a total of five medals (two silver, three bronze) in this biennial meet.
"Sayang naman ang byahe," said the 23-year old southpaw Ladon, who has had 87 registered amateur bouts since starting his career in 2007.
Maamo likewise expressed the same thing, stressing that this is an opportunity for them to prove their worth.
"Hindi basta-basta na tournament ito, kaya todo kami dito," said right-handed Maamo, who will be participating at the 52-kilogram category.
Ladon of Bago City will be the first to try his luck on Friday. He also took part in the 2015 edition of this prestigious tourney. A native of Cagayan de Oro City, Maamo follows suit the next day. They will get pointers from national coaches Nolito Velasco and Ronald Chavez.
The two boxers qualified to the world championships after garnering the bronze medal at the ASBC Asian Confederation Boxing Championships held in Uzbekistan earlier this year. They also fought at the Ulaanbaatar Box Cup, where they had contrasting outcomes.
Originally, Felix Eumir Marcial was supposed to join the two as he also made the grade during the Asian qualifying in May, but the hard-hitting Zamboanga native was recalled to beef up the squad in the ongoing Kuala Lumpur Southeast Asian Games.
The Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines and the Philippine Sports Commission joined hands in funding the German expedition.
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