DOHA — Filipino light flyweight Rogen Ladon dropped a close unanimous decision in his Aiba World Championships semifinals bout with Russian Vasili Egorov Sunday night and settled for the bronze medal.
It was a stinging setback for Ladon who needed to win the bout to clinch an automatic slot in next year’s Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Only the gold and silver medalists in the light flyweight division are given tickets to the quadrennial Summer Games.
The judges from Cuba, Britain and Mongolia all picked the Russian with identical scores of 29-28.
The other Filipino boxer Eumir Felix Marcial bowed to world No. 1 Daniyar Yeleussinov of Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals on Saturday.
Only 18 countries out of the original 73 figured in the semifinal round which featured boxers across 10 weight divisions. The tournament started with 257 hopefuls, vying for 23 Olympic passes.
Filipino male boxers still have three more chances to reach the Olympics. The Asia-Oceania qualifiers (also for women) in March next year in China and the final AOB qualifiers in Azerbaijan in June and the APB-WSB qualifiers in May in Bulgaria.