PUNCHING FOR GOLD - Glorious finish beckons Filipino boxers

A five-man boxing team attempts to put an end to the country’s gold medal hunt when Paris hosts the 2024 Olympics.

The cast is made up of three medalists from Tokyo and a pair of game and gutsy first-timers.

Silver medalists Carlo Paalam and Nesthy Petecio are joined by bronze medal winner Eumir Marcial and debutants Aira Villegas and Hergie Bacyadan.

But the road to the gold will be rocky and rough given the crack entries from the other nations competing in the boxfest that will run from 27 July until 11 August.

Marcial, who has fought as a professional five times, is the only seeded Filipino puncher.

Owing to his second-place finish in the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, Marcial found himself being seeded seventh.

Chinese Tanglatihan Tuohertabieke, who took the gold by beating the Filipino southpaw, is the No. 1 seed.

Ranked below is Cuban super fighter Arlen Lopez, widely regarded as the division’s top entry.

But not to be taken lightly are Ukrainian Oleksandr Khyzhniak, who defeated Marcial in the Tokyo semis, and bets from Egypt, Australia, Brazil and Croatia.

Nurbek Oralbay of Kazakhstan is the dark horse.

To brace for the onslaught, Marcial went the extra mile in his Paris buildup, camping out in Las Vegas and reuniting with his national team pals in Thailand and Colorado Springs and even spending some time as well in Metz, France and Saarbrücken in Germany.

The odds are stacked against him since he will be fighting at light-heavyweight and not at his preferred weight class.

As for Paalam, who took runner-up honors at flyweight, it will also be the same case as he will be campaigning at featherweight where the top pick is Uzbekistan’s pride and joy, Abdumalik Khalokov.

Paalam and Khalokov are no strangers to each other.

In the Asian Games, Khalokov, also the 2023 world champion and Asian titleholder, easily beat Paalam for the gold medal.

Another guy who could wind up winning gold is Jahmal Harvey of the United States.

The clever Harvey is America’s biggest bet for Paris gold.

But Paalam has been sensational as of late, something that could work wonders in France.

Petecio is also a prime bet for gold but like Marcial and Paalam may need a little bit of luck to win the medal that glows like no other.

Villegas and Bacyadan would have to go down to the well to maximize their chances since they are Olympic greenhorns.

Still, it will be foolish to take anyone for granted since everyone’s fighting on the biggest stage.

Traditionally, boxing is a perennial contributor of Olympic medals, having won eight of the total 14 the Philippines has amassed in a century of participation in the Summer Games.

The medals provided through the years include Jose Villanueva’s bronze in 1932 (Los Angeles), and his son Anthony’s silver in 1964 in Tokyo.

They were then followed by Leopoldo Serantes’ bronze in Seoul in 1988, Roel Velasco’s bronze in Barcelona in 1992 and his brother Onyok’s shining silver in Atlanta in 1996.