By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
John Wayne Vicera assured himself of at least a bronze medal after storming into the semifinals of the men’s 50kg division in the Asian Boxing Elite Championships over the weekend in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
The Bago City, Negros Occidental native dominated hometown bet Battulga Aldarkhishig by scoring a unanimous 5-0 decision to stay in the hunt for the gold as he emerged as the Philippines’ lone remaining contender as the rest fell by the wayside.
Vicera, however, faces a dangerous opponent in Daichi Iwai of Japan, who advanced via a referee-stopped-contest in the 1:06 mark of the first round against North Korea’s Tae Il Kim.
Prior to his quarterfinal triumph, Vicera also outclassed Bhutan’s Migma Dorji for unanimous 5-0 decision.
Xian Baguhin showed promise in the men’s 51kg after a unanimous 5-0 victory over Singapore’s Danisha Mathialagan, but fell to Indian top seed Zareen Nikhat in a referee-stopped-contest at the 2:38 mark of the first round of their quarterfinal match.
Norlan Petecio bowed out in his first bout against local bet Byamba-Erdene Otgonbaatar, 0-5, in the men’s 70kg, even as Aaron Jude Bado also absorbing a 0-5 beating from Mongolian Bilguunsaikhan Kharkhuu in the men’s 55kg.
Paul Julyfer Bascon also was beaten black and blue by Kazakhstan’s Orazbek Assylkulov that resulted in a crushing 0-5 decision.
