Olympic hopeful Marc Anthony Barriga of the PLDT-ABAP National Boxing Team refused to be enticed into a slugfest with Russia?s David Ayrapetyan who had also qualified for the 2012 London Olympics and fought a smart fight to win the gold medal at the prestigious annual Sydney Jackson Memorial Tournament at the Uzbekistan Sports Complex in Tashkent.
In the semi finals Barriga dominated hometown favorite Shahobidin Zoirov 13-10 to repeat his victory in the finals last year.
It was the second year that the 18 year old Barriga won the gold in a fight that was close all the way.
Barriga and Ayrapetyan were tied at 33-3 at thye end of the first round and 6-6 at the end of the second but the diminutive youngster from Panabo, Davao del Norte did enough in the third and final round to eke out a 10-9 win.
Barriga scored mainly on rapid-fire counter-punches against the 29 year old Ayrapetyan who was European champion two years running and won the silver medal at the 2011 World Championships.
The Russian tried to entice Barriga into a slugfest as he bore in with power punches but the
Filipino used his ring savvy to side-step the onrushing Ayrapetyan and caught him with precise counter-punches to the delight of the fans who rooted for the smaller Barriga.
Another young orspect, 16 year old Ian Clark Bautista of Negros Occidental won the bronze medal in the 52 Kg flyweight division.
Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines executive director and delegation head Ed Picson was ecstatic over Barriga?s victory.
He said ?It was a great fight between two determined and smart fighters. It would be nice to see how the two would fare in London and if they can have another showdown in the finals. It will surely be entertaining and exciting."
Picson said their participation here is part of PLDT-ABAP's continuing program to expose the national boxers to tough international competition.
He noted that the Philippines was ?the only non-Central Asian country in Uzbekistan. We dared to enter the lion's den, so to speak, and we took a big risk, but it paid off. As ABAP president Ricky Vargas promised, we will let our boys have the best training, the widest experience and the proper tools available to us in order to get the optimum performance from our boxers."
The team is coached by former Olympians Ronald Chavez and Roel Velasco. Also part of the delegation was international referee-judge Victorio Policarpio who was named Best Referee from among 32 ring officials.
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