Rogen Ladon (CONTRIBUTED)
Qian’An, Hebei Province, China — Five months after narrowly losing his shot at qualifying to the Rio de Janeiro Olympics during the world championship in Doha, Filipino light flyweight Rogen Ladon again ended up in tears at the Tangshan Sports Centre here.
This time, however, they were tears of joy.
Ladon branded himself an Olympian Thursday after making it to the Summer Games in August, the first ABAP boxer to qualify for the Olympics after Mark Anthony Barriga in 2012 in London, by beating India’s Devendro Singh Laisham in their semifinal bout in the AIBA Asian/Oceanian Olympic Qualifying Event.
All three judges scored it, 30-27, for the 22-year-old Ladon, the 2015 Southeast Asian Games silver medallist who now fights for the gold against Uzbekistan’s Hasanboy Dusmatov, winner over Mongolia’s Gankhuyag Gan-Erdene in the other semis bout.
Dusmatov denied Ladon in the finals of the 2015 ASBC Asian Confederation Boxing Championships by decision.
Shut off from the gold medal bout after losing to Russian Vasili Egorov in the semifinals last October in Qatar, Ladon, from Bago City, Negros Occidental, refused to fall into an elaborate trap laid down by his crafty opponent.
“Rogen focused on boxing and did not allow himself to be baited into the clinching and infighting that his Indian foe wanted,” said ABAP executive director Ed Picson. “He stuck to the fight plan of keeping the distance.”
Unable to lure Ladon inside, Laisham lunged in desperation and got deducted a point in the second round for excessive ducking.
Ladon dissolved in tears after his hand was raised, and he continued to sob in the dugout, Picson said, with the entire Philippine delegation congratulating him.
GOING FOR GOLD
Though assured of a spot in the Olympics, Ladon is not about to rest on his achievement.
“Tuloy na sa gold ‘to, sir!” Ladon said. “Number one pala tayo dito. Nakakahiya kung hindi gold.” (We’re going for the gold, sir. We’re number one here. So it would be embarrassing if we don’t get the gold.)
Bantamweight Mario Fernandez failed to follow Ladon outright to Rio, however.
Fernandez, an Asian Games bronze medallist, fell to highly regarded Thai Chatchai Butdee in their semis bout, 29-27, in the cards of all three judges, and will have to go through a box-off with a Kazakhstan fighter on Friday to secure an Olympic berth.
The top three boxers in each male weight category qualify for an Olympic berth.
Two other Filipino fighters, lightweight Charly Suarez and welterweight Eumir Felix Marcial, were set to fight later in the evening for places in the Brazil conclave. /ABAP MEDIA BUREAU