INCHEON, South Korea—If faith can move mountains, it might move a country up a notch in the overall standings of the 17th Asian Games here.
At least that’s what Charly Suarez, well, believes.
“If the Lord wills it, it will happen,” said the 26-year-old lightweight, who fought out of a first-round hole to beat Jordan’s Mohammad Mustafa Obada Alkasbeh in their semifinal duel at Seonhak Gymnasium to assure the Philippines of at least another silver medal.
The scriptures-quoting Suarez survived a slow start and carried the fight to his Jordanian foe in the middle of the second round and in the third round to come away with the victory. Suarez looked in trouble for most of the first round when the rangy Alkasbeh fed him a ration of jabs that held back the Filipino’s charge.
“We couldn’t move in because of the jabs,” said Philippines coach Nolito Velasco.
And also because of a few underhanded tricks by the Jordanian.
“He keeps on pushing,” Suarez complained. “So I had to clinch a lot. It helped in a way because I did not tire right away.”
Inexplicably, Alkasbeh abandoned the jab as the second round wore on and tried to engage Suarez in action-packed brawls.
“When he got hit, he may have gotten hurt, that’s why he forgot all about his jab,” Velasco said. “He decided to exchange.”
The tide turned at that point. Suarez won a majority of those exchanges, connecting to Alkasbeh with straights and upper cuts.
The result was a split-decision win for Suarez, who will shoot for the gold when he faces Mongolia’s Otgondalai Dorjnyambuu in the finals. Dorjnyambuu blasted Japan’s Satoshi Shimizu by unanimous decision in their semifinal encounter.
Incidentally, Suarez and his Mongolian foe have something in common, their regard for the “pushy” Alkasbeh.
“[Dorjnyambuu] told me after my fight that I did not fight a boxer; I fought a wrestler,” said Suarez.