Abap: The Olympics above all else

For some Filipino athletes bursting to perform, 2015 is the year to go someplace epic.

Two of our elite boxers should be feeling fortunate they’re booked for the big time this year.

Picked by their national sports association, the place to be for Charly Suarez and Mark Anthony Barriga is not Singapore for the 28th Southeast Asian Games in June.

It is the International Boxing Association (Aiba) Pro Boxing league debuting in several venues later this month.

The APB is not a professional boxing tournament as we know it, assures the Association of Boxing Alliances of the Philippines, although the league is considered one of two pro boxing ventures that has signaled the international federation’s move to a professional model for the past several years.

It offers a ticket to the 2016 Rio Olympic Games for the top two-ranked boxers in 10 weight categories.

The APB website says the league is unique because “it allows a boxer to turn pro and remain under the patronage of their National Federation, and therefore the Aiba, throughout their career.”

The website also says that for the first time ever, a “boxer can turn professional while still preserving his eligibility to fulfill the honor of representing his country in future Olympic Games…”

Of late, the Aiba has dropped the world “amateur” from its name and will use Rio 2016 as the first Olympic Games in history to allow pro boxers to compete.

Suarez, gold medalist in the 2011 SEA Games will face Robson Donato Conceicao of Brazil in the APB’s 60 kilogram weight class matches at the Doulet Sports Complex in Astana, Kazakhstan, Jan. 31.

Barriga, a 2012 London Olympian and gold medalist in the 2013 Burma (Myanmar) SEA Games will tackle Carlos Eduardo Pilotaxi of Ecuador in one of the 49 kilogram category clashes at the Lingnan Pearl Stadium in Fushan, China, on Feb. 5.

The decision to take the road less traveled that offers a direct path to Rio was a no-brainer for the Abap.

But for the fortune tellers and even the bean counters among our sports officials, it was a move most foul.

That’s because they depend on boxing to deliver medals and improve PH’s dismal seventh place finish in Burma two years ago while facing the dreaded dagdag-bawas routine in the biennial games.

Usually, the host selects several Mickey Mouse sports to help pad its medal tally, while ditching traditional games, like karate and wrestling this year, to mess up the medal prospects of other contingents.

With Suarez and Barriga out, the Abap believes “in the skill, ability and determination of those who will step up to the plate,” says executive director Ed Picson. “We take full responsibility for our choices for the Singapore SEAG.”

“Barriga and Suarez are sure medal winners? Seriously?” Picson asked in frustration. “I am afraid we cannot be as smug as to guarantee medals for anyone in our lineup.”

Picson said it was Aiba that selected the two fighters for the APB.

“It would have been foolhardy to pass up a chance to enter them in top-level competition and the opportunity to qualify for the Olympiad through APB,” Picson said.  “… Aiba assures us that the program is in accordance with the rules of the IOC (International Olympic Committee).”