Mario Fernandez and Charly Suarez avenged the setback of Carlo Paalam, as they posted big victories in the men’s boxing competition of the 29th Southeast Asian Games at the MITEC Hall 8 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Fernandez, who is hunting for his third SEA Games gold medal, cruised to the semifinals with a unanimous decision win over Tran Phu Cuong of Vietnam in the bantamweight class.
On the same note, the resurgent Suarez dominated Khir Akyazlan Azmi of Malaysia with a unanimous decision win in the light welterweight class.
“Nag-concentrate po ako talaga sa laban kasi baka mangyari ang katulad kay Carlo,” said Suarez, referring to Paalam’s sorry setback at the hands of Muhamad Fuad of Malaysia to bomb out of contention in the light flyweight class.
Suarez, who is seeking his first SEA Games gold medal in a higher weight class, dominated the burly Malaysian in the first round with hard body punches, before landing with a big cross on a three-punch combination in the third that forced the referee to make a standing eight count.
“Akala ko po, hindi bibilangan eh,” said Suarez, who qualified to last year’s Rio De Janiero Olympics but lost in his very first match.
Earlier, Fernandez had used his usual hard-hitting technique to slow down Cuong and move two matches away from bagging his third consecutive gold.
“Nagpapasalamat po ako sa Panginoon at binibigyan po niya kami ng magandang kundisyon,” said Fernandez, who joins flyweight Ian Clark Bautista, middleweight Eumir Felix Marcial, and Suarez in the semifinal round.
Photo and story from PSC-POC Media Group
