Charly Suarez of the Philippines dominates Khir Akyazlan Bin Azmi of Malaysia in the quarterfinals of the light welterweight class men’s boxing competition of the 29th Southeast Asian Games at the MITEC Hall 8 in Kuala Lumpur. Suarez prevailed by unanimous decision. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO/SEA GAMES POOL
MANILA, Philippines—Charly Suarez did not hesitate to answer when flag and country came calling back.
The 2016 Olympian has already fought thrice as a professional boxer but the opportunity to bag another gold as part of the country’s men’s team in the coming Southeast Asian Games is something that he simply couldn’t turn down.
“We have to grab whatever opportunity that comes our way because we might not get the same opportunity again,” said Suarez in Filipino during the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum Tuesday at the Amelie Hotel Manila.
Suarez’ coach and manager Delfin Bolhost thinks it’s also best for his ward to come back and add a third SEA Games gold to his collection.
“We talked and I told him to go for it because it’s not every day you get an opportunity like this,” Bolhost said in Filipino. “We’re representing the Philippines and there’s nothing like waving the Philippine flag. It’s a great feeling.”
The 31-year-old Suarez is off to a strong start in his pro career with a record of 3-0 all coming by knockouts.
The opportunity to return to the national team was brought about by Ed Picson, secretary-general of the Association of Boxing Alliances of the Philippines (Abap).
Suarez becomes the first Filipino pro boxer to compete for the Philippine team since open boxing was first allowed in the 2016 Rio Olympics.
The Davao del Norte native will compete as a lightweight in the SEA Games, which will be held here in the country this December.
He sees Thailand as the toughest foe but he is also not counting out the rest of the field.
“Usually it’s Thailand, but there a lot of countries excelling as well. Whether it’s Myanmar or another country, you can’t really be too confident in boxing,” said Suarez, who also won a silver medal in the 2014 Asian Games and bronze the last time he competed in the SEA Games in 2017.
Suarez leaves for Vietnam on Wednesday night for his fourth pro bout, but will immediately return to the country to join the national team when it leaves for training in Australia on Oct. 26.