Irish Magno became the second Filipino boxer to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
In probably her last chance to enter the big dance, Magno scored a dominant unanimous decision win over Tajikistan’s Sumaiya Qosimova in the flyweight box-off of the 2020 Asia-Oceania Olympic Qualification Tournament, Wednesday at the Prince Hamzeh Hall, Sport City in Amman, Jordan.
“It’s very… I’m so happy. I made it because of my coach Koy Velasco and my family. Thank you so much for this opportunity,” Magno said about her qualification.
Coming off a loss to Indian legend Mary Kom, the 28-year-old Filipina came out with guns blazing against Qosimova.
Magno overpowered her much smaller opponent in the first round to sweep the cards. She then showed her power in the second and third rounds in a lopsided affair to earn the decision win.
“I just listened to my coach because he saw my opponent before. I just followed the game plan,” Magno added.
Not as fortunate was Carlo Paalam, who bid goodbye to his Olympic dream after suffering a unanimous decision loss to Kazakhstan’s Saken Bibossinov in the flyweight box-off.
With this, Magno and Eumir Marcial are the two pugilists heading to Tokyo.
