BANGKOK. — Mark Ashley Fajardo hardly broke a sweat in scoring a win over Indonesian Jekri Riwu on Friday, Dec. 12, a victory that somehow eased the pain of defeats suffered by Hergie Bacyadan and Junmilardo Ogayre against Thai opponents in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games at the Chulalongkorn Sports Center here.
Fajardo’s opponent was forced to retire due to what appeared to be an elbow injury just seconds into the bout, allowing the Cebuano to easily advance to the semifinals and an assured bronze medal for Team Philippines in the men’s 69-kilogram class.
He will be up next against Thai Sinsiri Bunjong in a match that Fajardo hopes to win convincingly to avoid the specter of losing via hometown decision.
“Fo-focusan ko po ‘yung next na laban ko kasi next na kalaban ko Thailand(er). Alam n’yo naman, host,” said Fajardo, who is aiming for some sort of revenge against the host team which has now 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,” he added, referring to the first fight of the day that saw Bacyadan losing via a 0-4 decision to defending champion Baison Manikon.
Ogayre absorbed a 0-5 loss to Sakda Ruamthan in the men’s 60kg quarterfinals. Like Bacyadan, the 26-year-old fighter seemingly ran out of steam in the last two rounds.
Bacyadan started out strong, scoring a standing eight count on the Thai after a whistling combination to the head. Manikon, however, returned the favor in the second and third rounds.
Despite the loss, Bacyadan is coming home with bronze in the women’s 70kg division.
