Mark Ashley Fajardo barely broke a sweat on Friday, advancing to the semifinals of the men’s 69-kilogram boxing event at the 33rd Southeast Asian Games after Indonesian Jekri Riwu was forced to retire just seconds into their bout due to an apparent elbow injury.
The Cebuano’s smooth victory provided a much-needed silver lining for Team Philippines, which had earlier seen Hergie Bacyadan and Junmilardo Ogayre fall to Thai opponents.
Fajardo now faces Thailand’s Sinsiri Bunjong in a semifinal clash he hopes to win decisively, wary of the risk of a hometown decision favoring the host.
“Fo-focusan ko po ‘yung next na laban ko kasi next na kalaban ko Thailand(er). Alam n’yo naman, host,” said Fajardo, seeking some measure of revenge after the host nation eliminated three Filipino boxers.
“Pagsisikapan ko po kasi ayun nga, gaya nung sa unang laban, hindi magpalugi iyan, sabi nila na-luto raw. Sa akin, gagawin ko lang ‘yung best ko.”
Earlier, Bacyadan suffered a 0-4 loss to defending champion Baison Manikon in the women’s 70kg division, while Ogayre fell 0-5 to Sakda Ruamthan in the men’s 60kg quarterfinals.
Both pugs showed promise early but ran out of steam in the later rounds.
Bacyadan, however, still leaves Bangkok with a bronze medal.
