The Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (ABAP) is banking on international experience as its seven-member squad seeks to break a 16-year gold medal drought in the 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya.

ABAP president Marcus Manalo acknowledged that the Filipinos will have to go through some of the region’s strongest fighters to reach the top of the podium.

The Philippines has endured a string of near misses since its last boxing gold in 2010 won by flyweight Rey Saludar in Guangzhou, with Manalo pointing to several bouts where the outcome could have gone either way.

He cited Eumir Marcial’s gold-medal bout in Hangzhou in 2023, Rogen Ladon’s campaign in Jakarta in 2018 and Marcial’s semifinal against an Uzbek fighter in the same Games as examples of how thin the margins are in international boxing.

“There are a lot of factors in boxing because you have to change opponents every bout. You have judging, you have refereeing. So, there are a lot of external factors that can get in the way,” Manalo said.