Charly Suarez keeps the faith, gains semis vs Jordanian

INCHEON, South Korea—With an ice pack taped to a sore right shoulder, Charly Suarez dug into his tote bag and fished for his phone to read a verse from the Bible that he said helped him break the ice for the boxing team.

Faith, he said, helped him endure a slight fever and colds when he fought Monday and sealed the first medal of the Philippines in boxing in the 17th Asian Games by hammering out a unanimous decision victory over Ammar Jabbar Hassan Monday in their lightweight quarterfinal bout at Seonhak Gymnasium.

“It was faith that carried me,” said Suarez, who had trouble sleeping early Monday morning in frosty temperatures. “My head was aching and I could not breathe well.”

That’s when he turned to prayer.

“Whatever you do,” Suarez read out in Filipino, “work with all your heart, as if working for the Lord, not for human masters.”
It seemed to work.

Hassan engaged Suarez early in the first round, taking a southpaw stance Suarez knew—from having previously fought and beaten Hassan—meant the Iraqi felt he was going to have a walk in the park.

“But when he switched to orthodox, I knew he started taking me seriously,” the 24-year-old Suarez said after the bout.

It took four exits for the eight-strong boxing team to finally crash into the medal column and coach Nolito Velasco was hoping it would be the start of something.

Female bets Josie Gabuco and Nesthy Petecio had earlier bowed out along with Dennis Galvan and Ian Clark Bautista.