World boxing: Saludar, Barriga give PLDT-Abap 2-0 start

BAKU, Azerbaijan—Guangzhou Asian Games champion Rey Saludar nipped Canadian Kenny Lally, 21-20, Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila) to follow up the inaugural victory of fellow Filipino Mark Anthony Barriga in the World Boxing Championships at the Hayder Aliyev Stadium here.

Ahead, 16-12, Saludar had to fend off the rallying Lally in their flyweight bout to join Barriga, who beat Roma-nian Stefan Caslarov (12-5), in the second round and give the PLDT-Abap national team a 2-0 start in the Olympic qualifier.

Bantamweight Joan Tipon, who won the 2006 Asiad gold in Doha, Qatar, battles Argentina’s Albert Melian Wednesday in the event featuring 570 boxers from 130 countries.

On Thursday, Delfin Boholst gets his turn versus the Netherlands’ Stephen Danyo.

Rolando Tacuyan will enter the ring on September 30 against Iranian Mehdi Toloutibandpi before Charly Suarez starts his lightweight campaign against Ecuadorian Luis Porozo on October 1.

In his next fight on October 3, Barriga will tangle with 8th seed Patrick Barnes of Ireland.
If Barriga wins, the Filipino will likely meet Chinese Olympic gold medalist, Zou Shiming, who also won his first fight against Juan Medina of Dominican Republic, 17-9.

Three wins are needed to land a boxer in the quarterfinals, which is the standard here for Olympic qualification.

Since there will be 10 qualifiers, the two boxers in the round of 16 who lose to the eventual gold and silver medalists in their division will also be eligible for the 2012 London Games.