Ladon trips Polish pug, nears Rio Olympic slot

DOHA—Relentless Filipino light flyweight Rogen Ladon dominated Dawid Jagodzinski of Poland from the opening bell to prevail, 3-0, on Saturday and advance to the semifinals of the AIBA World Boxing Championships at Ali Hamad Al Attiya Arena here.

Ladon’s explosiveness earned him identical 10-9 scores from the judges from Russia, Argentina and Puerto Rico as he moved within a win of an outright berth in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

But another Filipino Olympic hopeful, Eumir Felix Marcial, ran into his old nemesis and world No. 1 Daniyar Yeleussinov of Kazakhstan in the evening session and absorbed a 27-30 defeat.

Only the finalists in this first qualifier are assured of Olympic spots although Aiba slated three more tournaments for Rio de Janeiro bidders next year.

The 21-year-old Ladon rocked the world championships on Thursday with a stunning points victory over No. 1 seed Joselito Velazquez Altamirano of Mexico on Thursday.

READ: Ladon stuns Mexican foe in front of Pacquiao

The fighter from Bago City next faces Russia’s Vasili Egorov, who is seeded No. 4 here, for a spot in the gold-medal round.

“Rogen followed the game plan drawn up by his coaches Nolito Velasco and Romeo Brin to the letter,” said Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (Abap) executive director Ed Picson. “They scouted the Polish boy’s style and Rogen waited in ambush to loose a barrage of counterblows.”

Picson said the Marcial-Yeleussinov fight was actually closer than the scores reflected. The clever Kazakh coupled his defensive game with sneak attacks that frustrated the young Zamboangueño.