Asian Games: PH boxer Fernandez suffers KO vs Iraqi

Jaafar Abdulridha Ali Al Sudani of Iraq (in blue) competes against Mario Fernandez of the Philippines (in red) during the men’s bantam 56kg boxing round of 32 at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta on August 25, 2018. AFP PHOTO / AAMIR QURESHI

The misery continued for Filipino boxers in the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia on Saturday.

Mario Fernandez was knocked out with under a minute left in the third and final round of his bantamweight bout against Jaafar Abdulridha Ali Al Sudani of Iraq in the round of 32.

The 25-year-old Fernandez, who won the bronze medal in the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, blew a golden opportunity to advance as he was leading in the judges’ scorecards after two rounds.

But he took a solid right that sent him flat on his back. Fernandez tried but had a hard time getting up, prompting the referee to stop the fight.

On Friday, Nesthy Petecio suffered a controversial split decision at the hands of Yin Junhua of China while Joel Bacho also dropped a split decision to Sajjad Kazemzadeh Poshtiri of Iran.