Two Filipino pugilists advanced to the next round of the 2021 Asian Elite Men’s and Women’s Boxing Championships held at the Grand Ballroom of the Le Meridien Hotel in Dubai, UAE, Monday evening (Manila time).
Light welterweight John Paul Panuyan outclassed hometown bet Majid Alnaqbi en route to a dominant unanimous decision win (30-27×2, 30-26, 29-28×2).
On the other hand, lightweight Jere Samuel Dela Cruz took a dominant majority decision win against Sri Lanka’s Jeww Antha Kumara. The scorecards read 30-27×3, 28-29, 29-28.
Photo from Asian Boxing Confederation
Not as fortunate was a gallant Marvin Tabamo.
Despite an early cut received at the hands of Afghanistan’s Ramish, the Filipino flyweight still pushed through to finish the bout. However, he would not get the judges’ nod, bowing via a split decision, 27-30×2, 30-27, 29-28×2.
There will be no rest for Panuyan as he takes on top seed Bakhodur Usmonov of Tajikistan tonight.
Dela Cruz, meanwhile, gets a one-day break before facing second seed Varinder Singh on Wednesday.
Also on deck for Tuesday night’s card are women’s lightweight Maricel Dela Torre taking on Indonesia’s Huswatun Hasanah, men’s bantamweight Jun Milardo Ogayre squaring off against Sri Lanka’s Rukmal Prasanna, and men’s light flyweight Mark Lester Durens facing off against Kuwait’s Mansour Khalefah.
