Charly Suarez must work hard to be No.1 again

He would swear that sending four finalists into the Tammer Cup, a top-level boxing tournament in Finland, was truly “inspiring and heartwarming.”
But Ed Picson, executive director of the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines, could not help but quietly treat himself to a little feast ahead of RP’s fourth and final semifinal assignment, after his fighters had gone three-for-three in their march to the exacting finals.
“Sarap kumain, it’s truly appetizing,” Picson told the Inquirer through a text message before flyweight Rey Saludar could put on his fighting shoes for RP’s fourth finals quest.
Picson said it was, after all, already past midnight, so he decided to step out and take a bite.
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Maybe it was plain coincidence, but the RP team stormed, four-for-four, into the Tammer Cup finals at a time when a supertyphoon was bearing down on the Philippines.
Imagine, if the four had razed all their foes and won their final bouts.
That would’ve also caused a happy upheaval of sorts.
The truth, Picson would report after his wards had delivered two gold medals courtesy of the Saludar brothers, Victorio and Rey, of Panabo, Davao del Norte, was that they’ve become the toast and envy of the tournament, with several representatives from other countries wondering if it would be possible to bring their fighters over to train in the Philippines.
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Of course, it goes without saying that, unlike in luckless Olympic stints of the previous years, the achievements of the new leadership at the Abap, headed by its president Ricky Vargas and its chair Manny V. Pangilinan, have helped confirm the status of the Philippines as a home of champions (Take a bow, Manny Pacquiao.).
Picson no longer had to belabor the fact that, when his two other fighters—the celebrated bantamweight Charly Suarez and the much-improved welterweight Delfin Boholst—picked up two silver medals after dropping their bouts, the Philippines still ended on top of the Tammer medal tally.
Add to that the fact that Victorio Saludar, after stamping his class against England’s Charlie Edwards, 7-3, for the light flyweight gold, was named “Best Fighter of the Tournament.”
To repeat: His brother, Rey, two years older than Victorio at 21, swamped Portugal’s Pedro Matos, 6-0, for RP’s other gold medal.
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Maybe this need not be told, but Suarez went to Finland as spearhead of the RP squad.
He was also being touted as RP’s hottest bet for a slot in the 2012 London Olympics.
Unfortunately, Suarez fell an easy target to his sleek, seasoned Finnish foe, Matti Koota, and was blanked, 6-0.
Said Picson: “Suarez appeared anxious from the onset and missed a lot of shots in going after the Finnish, who displayed deft counterpunching and suave moves that frustrated the Filipino no end.”
Boholst also settled for the silver after the Gingoog City native failed to get his game going against Ireland’s Ross Hickey to bow, 2-1.
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Picson said the referee tolled a standing eight-count on Koota in the final round, but no point was scored in favor of Suarez.
No complaints, said Picson who added the hometown boy fought smartly and deserved the win.
Picson later talked to Suarez and Boholst and urged the duo to “pick up something from the loss.”
Well, it would be silly to say that the loss of the celebrated Charly Suarez was necessary.
But, in a big way, the setback should help open the eyes of the Pride of Panabo to work on better ringmanship.
Suarez must be able to develop well-rounded skills and avoid being too predictable.
He should not rely solely on his big punches.
Only then can he regain his status as spearhead of the Asian Games-bound RP team.