DESPITE the many criticisms it absorbed for the protest move
it did in the 24th SEA Games, former PSC chief Mel Lopez still believes boxing
remains as the best bet where the country can win its first ever Olympic gold
medal.
The one-time Manila Mayor and Amateur Boxing Association of
the Philippines (ABAP) president yesterday said Filipino pugs are ripe to win an
Olympic gold, the fruition of which may yet come in Beijing, China in August of
this year.
"Dapat maging positive thinker ka ngayon. Naniniwala ako sa
kakayahan ng ating mga boksingero," said Lopez, father of current ABAP chief
Manny Lopez, in a special appearance in the weekly SCOOP sa Kamayan session.
The Philippine men’s boxing team has been under heavy attack
of late for its decision to retire all seven finals matches during the last
Thailand SEA Games for what it perceived had been biased judging favoring the
host country.
The elder Lopez defended the controversial decision, saying
there were many instances in the past, where similar desperate measures were
taken just to send the message across the leadership of the International Boxing
Association (AIBA).
He cited an incident during the World Amateur Boxing
Championships in Bhudapest in 1997 where a Cuban coach punched the referee for
allegedly biased officiating.
"Imagine, Cuba na `yun, a powerhouse in boxing. Simula nu’ng
nangyari ’yung incident na ‘yun, ni minsan hindi na nila sinubukan pang dayain
ang mga Cubano," recalled the elder Lopez in the session sponsored by ACCEL.
So far, only light-flyweight Harry Tanamor has earned a berth
to the Beijing Games although two more qualifying tournaments in Bangkok and
Kazakhstan are slated this month and on March, respectively.
"Naniniwala po ako na madadagdagan pa ang ating mga
boksingero sa Beijing Olympics," said Lopez, who served as PSC chairman from
1994-1996.
The Lopez patriarch was the man who first broached the
concept of the quest for the first Olympic gold medal during his term as ABAP
head and later, as leader of the country’s sports government agency.
The program benefited such athletes as bowler Arianne Cerdena
and boxers Leopoldo Serrantes and the Velasco brothers, Roel and Onyok.
Cerdena won the gold during the 1988 Seoul Olympics where
bowling was a demonstration sport while Serrantes bagged a bronze medal in
boxing in the same edition of the Summer Games.
Roel also ran away with a bronze in the Barcelona Olympics four years later,
before Onyok brought home a silver medal from Atlanta during the 1996 Olympic
Games.
