PH boxers bag 3 golds in Russia tilt

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Five Filipino boxers bagged medals, including three golds, in the International Tournament “Konstantin Korotkov Memorial” Khabarovsk, Russia.

Eumir Felix Marcial, Nesthy Petecio and Carlo Paalam put on dazzling performances on their way to taking home gold medals in the 26-nation tournament.

“I am so, so very happy for our boxers. This is a good preparation for the Asian Games in August. Let’s get them more exposures,” said ABAP president Ricky Vargas.

Marcial ruled the middleweight division, sending several opponents to the canvas en route to the championship round where he outpointed his North Korean foe.

Petecio continued her winning ways with her third gold medal in five months after also winning tournaments in India and Poland.

But Petecio’s road to gold had to go through an opponent she had never beaten before in Jun Hua Yin of China in the semifinals.

The fancied Chinese, a silver medalist in the 2016 Rio Olympics, has had Petecio’s number, having beaten the Filipino in their previous four encounters.

Petecio, though, finally got over the hump and even scored a knockdown to make the finals where she topped another North Korean.

Paalam, meanwhile, outwitted 2014 Asian Games gold medalist Shin Jong Hun of South Korea in their light flyweight bout to win the gold.

Rounding out the Filipino medalists are lightweight James Palicte, who won silver and Aira Villegas, who claimed the bronze medal, in the women’s flyweight class.