Landon fails to secure ticket to Rio Olympics

Pinoy boxer loses to Russian foe to settle for bronze  

Doha, Qatar – “We aimed for gold, would have settled for silver but a bronze medal in a world championship is still nothing to sneeze at.”
Thus did ABAP executive director Ed Picson sum up the performance of the two-man Philippine delegation to the AIBA World Championships here after light flyweight Rogen Ladon dropped a close decision in his semifinals bout with Russian Vasili Egorov Sunday evening.
The tournament is the first qualifying tournament for boxing for the Summer Olympics to be held in Rio de Janeiro August of 2016.
Ladon needed to win the bout to automatically get a slot to Rio. Only the gold and silver medalists in the light-flyweight  division are given tickets to the Olympiad.
Ladon settled for  a bronze medal.
The three judges – from Cuba, Great Britain and Mongolia –  however, all gave the edge to the Russian, 29-28.
Only 18 countries out of the original 73 figured in the semifinal round, which featured the last 40 boxers across 10 weight divisions.
The tournament started out with 257 hopeful pugs from all over the world. Only 23 Olympic passes were made available here.
The 21-year-old Bago City native started off with his usual in-and-out moves, popping two to three shot combinations. But his wild-swinging foe forced him to engage in close quarters after tying him up with some deft holding tactics.
“We thought Rogen won it, but in close fights such as this, you have to be prepared for the worst,” Picson said. The Russian was seeded number 4 here, Ladon no. 17.
The Filipino had beaten number 1 seed here last Thursday – Joselito Velazquez Altamirano from Mexico.
“Our boxers earned the respect and admiration of so many here,” Picson said.