Boxing shooting for ‘bigger’ golds

Photo by ROMY HOMILLADA

PALEMBANG, Indonesia—The fourth and biggest boxing gold medal bagged on Sunday also qualifies as the biggest sob story for Team Philippines in this colorful city.

Light welterweight Dennis Galvan confided during the victory celebration that his farmer parents had missed witnessing his golden feat.

Reason: The electric power to their residence in far-off Bago City was cut off—his parents failed to pay up the bill—before the bout could be beamed live on AKTV Sunday evening.

Galvan, 19, will be among the recipients of P100,000 incentives for gold-medal winners from the Philippine Sports Commission.

It was Galvan’s first time to compete in the Games.

“He also gets P300,000 from our boss Manny V. Pangilinan, together with the other boxing gold medalists here,” said Patrick Gregorio, executive secretary of the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines.

The bubbly Gregorio readily turned teary-eyed upon hearing the touching tale from Galvan himself.

“This is the sort of life-changing twist that has inspired MVP to push harder and harder for total national sports development,” Gregorio explained.

Strongboy Charly Suarez, 23, combined power and sharpness to dominate his Indon foe, 26-7, and bag the lightweight gold.

It was Suarez’s second straight Games gold, having topped the featherweight class in the 2009 Laos Games two years ago.

He scored a standing 8-count in both the second and third round.

The back-to-back gold by Suarez and Galvan on the final day of boxing action, together with two earlier gold medals by Alice Kate Aparri and Josie Gabuco, was one short of the five won by the PH boxing team in Laos.

But Abap executive director Ed Picson visibly felt doubly triumphant as the successful campaign here, he said, has opened new horizons in their quest for honors in big international tournaments, possibly the Olympics.

“We were told you can’t expect to win an Olympic gold medal after a two-year preparation,” Picson said.

The amateur boxing leadership, headed by Abap president Ricky Vargas of Maynilad and Smart Communications, which readily set off a grassroots talent discovery and development program, has been on the helm for only two years.

“We should have won six or seven gold medals here,” said Picson, who added they were very proud of the discipline, high quality of training and performance displayed by Filipino boxers here.

“We don’t expect instant gratification. But the results showed what MVP and Mr. Vargas have quietly honed the past two years.”

Officials and members of the PH boxing team left for Manila via Jakarta and Singapore Monday.