INQUIRER Sports

GUADALAJARA, MEXICO?Lightweight Rolando Tacuyan stopped his Hungarian foe Sunday to advance along with light flyweight Gerson Nietes Jr. in the First International Boxing Association (AIBA) Youth World Championship at the Lopez Mateos Gymnasium here.

But flyweight Welbeth Loberamis, an impressive opening-day winner Saturday, bowed to Jonathan Gonzales of Puerto Rico, 18-5, and became the first casualty of the five-man RP squad bankrolled by Smart-PLDT.

Trailing 2-7 after the first round, Tacuyan unloaded rapid-fire combinations to the head of Hungary?s Erik Sos and was declared RSC (referee-stopped-contest) winner with four seconds left in the second round.

Nietes bucked the discomfort of using a different mouthguard to punch his way to a convincing 11-5 victory over Carlos Narvaez of Puerto Rico.

Tacuyan, whose elder brother Orlando is a member of the national men?s team, will meet Japanese Kenki Toda on Tuesday for a place in the quarterfinals. Toda mauled Eloy Iglesias of Spain, 18-9.

Nietes? next fight is against Jasurbek Latipov of Uzbekistan also Tuesday. The Uzbek fighter survived Selguk Eker of Turkey, 10-8.

If he outlasts Latipov, Nietes is expected to next face European champion Butsenko Mikoya.

Featherweight Glicerio Catolico III, son of national women?s head coach Glicerio, drew a bye and will shoot for a quarterfinal slot when he fights Arias Romero Wellington of the Dominican Republic on Monday.

Bantamweight Anton Francis Palicte launches his bid also Monday against Bajrang of India.

?I wasn?t going to back down. I?m not going down without a fight,? said Tacuyan in Filipino.

Cuban coach Dagoberto Rojas Scott expressed delight in Tacuyan?s victory.

?I know he can play at this level,? said Scott through assistant coach Elmer Pamisa. ?Given the right international exposure, Tacuyan and our boxers can reach places.?

Nietes, at 16 the youngest in the team, earned the nod of the judges with his superb counterpunching against the Puerto Rican, who spent most of the time throwing punches to the wind.

He ended the third round with a crunching right hook which hit the surging Puerto Rican in the face for an 8-4 lead.

Unknown to Narvaez, the young Nietes was having trouble breathing at the end of the second round due to his mouthguard. Nietes was forced to borrow Loberamis? mouthguard when the referee prohibited him from using his black mouthguard before the bout.

?I was having trouble breathing because the mouthguard does not fit and may fall anytime,? said Nietes.

Powerhouse Cuba, a favorite to rule the overall race, had a bad day as highly regarded light flyweight Erwin Marks lost to Frenchman Jeremy Baccu, 28-25.