Philippines’ Rogen Ladon celebrates after defeating Thailand’s Yaodam Ammarit to claim the gold medal during the 30th South East Asian Games 2019 Men’s Flyweight (52 kg). INQUIRER PHOTO/ Sherwin Vardeleon
MANILA, Philippines—There won’t be any trade-off in choosing Rogen Ladon over Carlo Paalam to compete in the men’s boxing flyweight class at the upcoming Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Paalam may be coming off a silver medal performance at the Tokyo Olympics but Ladon also has the pedigree to be worthy of the spot.
“For me, Rogen Ladon is also an ex-Olympian although he wasn’t able to win a medal in 2016. He has been showing his grit and determination in the past weeks and has proven himself,” said Ed Picson, Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (Abap) president, on Tuesday during the PSA Forum.
“So with the present condition of Rogen Ladon and Carlo Paalam, the coaches felt that Ladon will be the best bet in that weight category at this point,” said Picson.
Ladon, who will defend his title in the biennial meet, is also peaking at the right time. He just won a gold medal in the Thailand Open where he toppled Amit Panghal of India in the final.
“Rogen actually beat Amit, who is the top seed of the Tokyo Olympics, and the guy who beat Carlo in the Asian Games, World Championships, and the Olympic qualifiers. There’s no question when it comes to Rogen representing us in that weight,” said Marcus Manalo, Abap secretary-general, said.
“Honestly, for us, they are of the same quality. There’s no problem when it comes to that weight class because we are one of the best,” Manalo said of Ladon and Paalam.
The two have now taken turns in representing the country after Paalam qualified for the Tokyo Games last year while Ladon missed the cut.