ABAP braces for first Olympic qualifier

About six or seven Filipino fighters will be sent to compete in the 2027 World Boxing Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan, where 24 berths to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics will be up for grabs.

National team head coach Pat Gaspi told DAILY TRIBUNE on Sunday that the Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (ABAP) will hold a box-off for those in the lower weight classes.

The Kazakhstan worlds will take place in April, the first direct qualifying event for those seeking berths to LA28.

Those who won’t make the grade will have three more chances as China hosts the Olympic qualifying for Asia also in 2027 and Italy and Hungary handling the last two slugfests in 2028.

Expected to vie for slots to the worlds are 20th Asian Games silver medalist Carlo Paalam, the one and only boxer to make the podium in Nagoya.

Paalam will be among the top favorites to make the Kazakhstan-bound squad alongside old mainstays Nesthy Petecio and Aira Villegas in the women’s side.

It could not be determined if the ABAP has hidden talents in its Baguio training camp other than Norlan Petecio and Junmilarod Ogayre, who were eliminated early in Nagoya.

The Olympics — taking place from 14 to 30 July — will have events in 55 kilograms, 60, 65, 70, 80, 90, 90plus while the women will feature competitions in 51, 54, 57, 60, 65, 70 and 75.

A total of 248 Olympic tickets will be filled, according to World Boxing, the International Olympic Committee-backed governing body for Olympic-style boxing.

But before next year’s hostilities, the ABAP will form a team to the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, this December.

Aside from the two Olympic qualifying meets in 2027, also on tap is the 34th Southeast Asian Games in Malaysia.