(Asian Games) Simonpures: From fair to good

GUANGZHOU—Two small sons of poor peasant parents—Rey and Victorio Saludar—have loomed large as main figures defining the temper and direction of the Philippine boxing team in the 16th Asian Games here. The Brother Saludars, like it or not, are the lead warriors—the Manny Pacquiaos—in Philippine boxing’s mission to win the gold in this cool, placid city by the banks of the Pearl River.

The intrepid siblings pursue their assigned task in contrasting fashions. Rey, 22, is in a frantic rush. The younger Victorio, 20, is both cautious and calculating. Assured of at least a bronze, Rey again scored a rush-rush first-round stoppage at the Fushan Gymnasium on Saturday, a sparkling follow up to brother Victorio’s second straight win on points earlier in the day. After drawing a first-round bye, Rey took out his opponent from Bhutan in less than two minutes; first pummeling him with lefts to the body, before finishing off with a shotgun right at 1 minutes 50 second of the first round. Rey jumpstarted and did not stop firing, as though there were no tomorrow, until the referee stopped the contest. Ed Picson, acting father of the national boxing team here, explained that Rey Saludar was not exactly in a rush but was, in fact, more discerning with his power shots. However, unlike his kuya, Victorio would not be caught going frantically for a knockout. “Hindi ko kilala kalaban, kaya hinay-hinay muna,(I did not know my foe, so I studied him first), ” Victorio told the Inquirer after swamping Zarip Jumayev of Turkmenestan (12-3)  earlier on Saturday. After Saturday’s refreshing wins, Picson, also the national boxing association’s executive director, left the Athletes  Village for the first time for a few drinks outside the camp. Returning from his first night out here, Picson was asked if he has started to smell gold. He replied: “I’ve always said that all the boxers we brought had fair chances. I guess that has been raised to ’good’”. How truly good, of course, hinges largely on the remaining foes of the Saludars, not to mention those of welterweight Lopez who will have to surpass himself to survive against bigger mainstays from established boxing powers like Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Thailand. If victorious today, Victorio will have no less than Beijing Olympic light flyweight champion Zou Shiming standing in his path. Rey, on the other hand, is expected to have his hands full against the talented and dangerous Susa Katsuaki in their semifinals duel on Wednesday. But if Rey succeeds against Katsuaki, the rest should not be as formidable as it promises to be for Vic. At best, though, it can be said that there’s hope (for the gold) after the overrated Charly Suarez.