The Philippine Boxing Team returned home with four gold medals following strong performances in tournaments held in Serbia and the Netherlands under the guidance of the Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (ABAP).
Leading the country’s campaign were Clark Vicera and veteran fighter Riza Pasuit, who captured gold medals during the 63rd Belgrade Winner Elite Men’s and Women’s Boxing Tournament staged in Serbia.
Vicera ruled the men’s 50-kilogram division after opening his run with a unanimous decision victory over 2024 Youth World Boxing Championships bronze medalist Dias Berikbay of Kazakhstan in the preliminary round.
He followed it up with dominant wins against Ibrahim Aljohani of Saudi Arabia in the quarterfinals and Nurzat Ongarov of Kazakhstan in the semifinals before edging Salih Samet Oruc of Türkiye via a 4-1 split decision in the finals.
Pasuit, meanwhile, dominated the women’s 57kg class and swept all her bouts by unanimous decision. She defeated Victoria Vergos of Canada, Areti Stergiou of Greece, and Ece Asude Ediz of Türkiye en route to the gold medal.
Paul Julyfer Bascon also contributed a bronze medal finish in the men’s 60kg division.
The Philippine squad then shifted its campaign to the Netherlands for the Eindhoven Box Cup, where Vicera once again emerged victorious in his division.
The young Filipino boxer defeated Sameer Ardawan of Belgium in the semifinals and Ruslan Bednychenko of Ukraine in the finals, both through unanimous decision victories.
Vicera, however, had to recover from a difficult start in the championship bout after losing the opening round, 5-0, before bouncing back strongly in the final two rounds.
Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Carlo Paalam added another gold medal for the Philippines after topping the men’s 55kg category.
Paalam missed the Serbia tournament due to illness but returned in impressive fashion in the Netherlands. He opened his campaign with a 5-0 victory over Justin Sahin of Germany in the quarterfinals before outlasting Paris 2024 Olympic silver medalist Billal Bennama of France through a 4-1 split decision in the semifinals.
He later secured the gold medal with a unanimous decision win against Abdul Burton of England in the finals.
Also accompanying the team were ABAP coaches Ronald Chavez, Elmer Pamisa, and Mario Fernandez, physical therapist David Abraham Giray, and ABAP president Marcus Manalo.
“We’re happy to bring home four gold medals from two high-caliber tournaments,” said ABAP President Marcus Manalo. “However, more than the medals, we’re really happy with the performance of our boxers. They showed skill and determination in every match, as well as their fighting spirit when things got difficult against really good opponents. This is a sign that we’re heading in the right direction as we look forward to the upcoming Asian Games in September.”
