Suarez, Vicera bag golds at the end of boxing competitions

Charly Suarez and Bill Vicera’s fists proved to be golden Thursday night as Team Philippines triumphed in two more weight divisions at the close of the boxing competitions in the 25th Laos Southeast Asian Games in Vientiane.

Suarez and Vicera’s victory more than made up for the sorry loss of two-time Olympian Harry Tañamor as the 10-member RP boxing team finished five gold, one silver and three bronze medals. The RP boxer’s nine-medal haul somehow erased the stigma of a walkout-marred campaign two years ago in the Thailand SEA Games where they finished with a 1-12-2 medal tally. For the second straight time, the country also placed second behind Thailand (7-0-3) in the sport’s overall championship. Vicera defeated Sikham of the host country, 6-3, in the 46kg final, but more devastating was the 21-year old Suarez’ second round knockout of Cambodian Phal Sophat in the gold medal round of the 57kg class. Unfortunately, the men’s team failed to duplicate the 3-of-3 finish of its female counterparts as Tanamor, 31, fell against his quicker and rapid-punching opponent from Thailand, Kaeo Prongprayoon, 3-1, in the 48kg finals. For Suarez, who just won his first SEA Games gold medal, the experience is definitely overwhelming. "Masayang-masaya po ako dahil first time ko itong lumaban at manalo ng gold sa SEA Games," said Suarez, who came from boxing hotbed Panabo City. The Filipino featherweight swarmed all over his Cambodian opponent, before setting him up with a crunching left to the jaw for the knockout win. "Na-tsambahan lang, sir," said Suarez, even humble in victory. Just as happy was Vicera, 27, whose weight class was initially scrapped out of the boxing events as per directive by the International Boxing Federation (Association Internationale de Boxe Amateur, AIBA), only to be re-included on the eve of the competition itself. Previously a bronze medalist in the 2007 SEA Games, Vicera dominated the match right from the opening bell but didn’t clinch the win until the final round when he outscored the Laotian, 2-0. For their golden feats, both Vicera and Suarez are also the recipients of a total P600,000 cash bonus – P300,000 each from the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) under chairman Harry Angping and Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (ABAP) chairman Manny V. Pangilinan. "Hindi ko pa po alam sir, siguro pag andiyan na talaga tsaka ko na pag-isipan kung ano ang gagawin ko," said Suarez when asked what he plans to do with the bounty financial reward he’s set to receive. Tañamor, the most senior of the RP boxers and once considered as the best light-flyweight in the region, failed to turn back the hands of time as he found it hard to penetrate the 29-year old Prongprayoon’s defense, who was pumped-up by a loud cheering Thai contingent at the Olympassia stadium of the National University. A step slower than his Thai opponent, Tañamor trailed 2-0 after the first round, and never got his rhythm going as Prongprayoon proved too fast and too slick for him. "Despite some setbacks, we’re definitely happy with the way our boxers performed here," said ABAP executive director Ed Picson, noting that nine of the 10 boxers sent for the meet won at least a medal. – GMANews.TV