Journey to remember

Association of Boxing Alliances of the Philippines (ABAP) secretary general Marcus Manalo couldn’t hide his excitement over the last-minute inclusion of Carlo Paalam and Hergie Bacyadan to the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Their entry hiked the number of Filipino fighters to the 26 July to 11 August Summer Games to five following the early qualification of light-heavyweight Eumir Marcial and female fighters Nesthy Petecio and Aira Villegas.

“This Olympic qualification is definitely a tougher route for all of them. Eumir almost missed the Asian Games, where he qualified, due to professional obligations,” Manalo said.

“Nesthy was up and down the past two years and had to win five bouts in nine days to get one of the two slots in Italy. Carlo had to pull out in Italy due to shoulder injury and missed a camp and tournament to spend the majority of the time just in rehab.”

Paalam, a fighter in the men’a 57-kilogram division, and Hergie Bacyadan, who boxes in the women’s 75-kg division, clinched their Olympic spots over the weekend at the 2nd World Olympic Qualifying Tournament at the Indoor Stadium Huamark in Bangkok.

Marcial, who has four professional wins, was the earliest to get a Paris slot after a silver medal finish in the men’s 80-kg division in the Hangzhou Asiad in China last October.

Petecio, who competes in the women’s 54-kg, and Aira Villegas, who fights in the women’s 50-kg, earned their berths during the 1st World Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Italy last March.

Villegas and Bacyadan are fighting for the first time in the Olympics.

Paalam and Petecio took silver medals in the 2021 Tokyo Games where Marcial got the middleweight bronze.

“It’s thrilling that we added more firepower in Paris with Aira and Hergie. Similarly, it was a tough route for them as Aira suffered from a series of injuries and had to miss tournaments and training camps,” Manalo said.

“She also lost her first bout at the Asian Games. Meanwhile, Hergie left the boxing team to transfer to Vovinam and did not have an easy transition back to boxing.”

Now, the real battle starts as the Philippines has the most number of athletes in Paris at five.

This batch tied the number of boxers fielded in the 1996 Atlanta Games that was bannered by silver medalist Mansueto “Onyok” Velasco.

Still, Manalo likes the boxers’ chances of not only getting a podium finish but possibly the country’s first Olympic gold medal in boxing.

After all, the Filipino pugs will have one more training camp in Saarbrücken, Germany before joining the rest of the delegation in Metz, France.

“We know it will be really hard to go back to the podium and to finish at the top of the podium at the biggest stage. But, it seems like they have what it takes,” Manalo said. 

“They’ve shown it and we will be here to provide the best possible support for them. Can’t wait. Let’s run it back with additional firepower.”