Brothers Victorio, Rey win Tampere boxing gold medals

TAMPERE, Finland — Two young brothers from Davao del Norte captured gold medals while two other Filipino bets settled for silvers as the PLDT-Abap national team matched the championship performance of its predecessor four years ago in the 31st Tammer Cup at the Pyynikkin Palloiluhalli Sports Hall here.

Victorio Saludar stamped his class over England’s Charlie Edwards, 7-3, en route to being named “Best Fighter” of the tournament, while Rey Saludar, two years older at 21, swamped Portugal’s Pedro Matos, 6-0.

The last time the Philippines participated here was in 2006 with Joan Tipon and Violito Payla bringing home gold medals.

Top Filipino bet Charly Suarez and Delfin Boholts fell short in their bids to complete a Philippine sweep.

Finnish superstar Matti Koota wrote finis to the lofty Filipino expectations as he masterfully countered everything thrown at him by Suarez to snap the Philippine run by a stunning 6-0 win.

Suarez appeared anxious from the onset and missed a lot of shots in going after the slick Finnish, who displayed deft counter-punching and suave moves that frustrated the Filipino no end.

Suarez’s best friend, Boholst, went the same route. The Gingoog City native could not seem to get his game going versus Ross Hickey and eventually bowed to the Irish fighter, 2-1.

The two-gold, two-silver performance of the Philippines was nonetheless the best among all participants as none was able to come close to the Filipino feat of getting all their four boxers in the finals.

Host Finland and France were second with three finalists each.(pr)

Philippines with most number of Finalists in Tammer Cup

Tampere, Finland- The Philippines has the most number of boxers in the finals of the 31st Tammer Cup. All four fighters sent by PLDT-ABAP made it to the gold medal round Sunday, October 17 at the Pyynikkin Palloiluhalli Sports Hall in Tampere. 

The fights start at 2 p.m. (7 p.m. Manila time).

Charly Suarez, Delfin Boholst and the brothers Saludar- Rey and Victorio take on their respective rivals in the tournament which was first held in 1977. 

Suarez takes on Matti Koota of Finland, Delfin Boholst's light welterweight match is against Ross Hickey of Ireland while Rey Saludar disputes the gold with Pedro Matos of Portugal. His younger brother Victorio has Charlie Edwards of England as finals foe.

Two countries have 3 protagonists in the gold medal hunt-Finland and France while Germany got 2 boxers in. 8 countries have 1 representation apiece- Russia, Ireland, Scotland, Portugal, Azerbaijan, England, Kazakhstan and Sweden.

ABAP executive director Ed Picson reports the Filipino simon-pures are the toast of the tournament."So many people come up to us to congratulate us, wish us well and even ask if they could train in the Philippines! But we're focused on the task ahead...to soak up as much knowledge as we can and if fate allows it, to bring home some golden presents to our countrymen."

The last time the Philippines participated here  was in 2006 with Joan Tipon and Violito Payla bringing home the gold.(pr)Tammer

Victorio & Rey Saludar, Suarez, Boholst in finals

All 4 RP bets reach gold medal bouts in Finland

Victorio & Rey Saludar, Suarez, Boholst in finals



Tampere, Finland – The warmth of four silver medals – for now at
least – should be enough to keep the explosive fists of the PLDT-ABAP
National Boxing Team in the shivery 31st Tammer Cup here blazing all
the way to the Asian Games in Guangahou next month.

One after the other, Victorio Saludar, Charly Suarez, Delfin
Boholst and Rey Saludar marched into the gold medal fight by carving out pulsating
semifinal victories that propelled them into what could be the richest
medal harvest ever for the Philippines in this prestigious tournament.

The last time the Philippines participated here was in 2006 when Joan Tipon and Violito

Payla both struck gold. They repeated their golden feat in the Doha Asian Games 

that year.

The younger Saludar rallied from a 1-0 deficit to shock Russian Artem Ivaschenko,
4-1; Suarez showed too much class against Finnish Petteri Frojdholm,
7-2, in their 56-kilogram encounter; and Boholst broke the hearts of
the hometown crowd a second time by shutting down Jarkko Putkonen,
6-0, in the 64-kilogram class.

In the late afternoon session, Rey Saludar likewise had to come up with a big finish 

to upend a wily Irish lad, Declan Gerraghty, final score at 8-5.

“A great effort by our boxers, truly inspiring and heartwarming,” said
Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines executive director Ed
Picson, who headed the Philippine delegation in the 31st year of the tournament
held at the Pyynikin Palloiluhallissa Sports Hall.

"Our main goal here was to have a tough tune-up for the coming Asian
Games. I think we're getting that,” he said. “If we win a gold medal
or four, that would be a welcome bonus."

Victorio Saludar will face England’s Charlie Edwards in the finals,
while Suarez will go up against Finland’s Matti Koota. Rey Saludar will

have Perro Matos of Portugal as his foe. Boholst’s
opponent has yet to be determined.

The trip here is the last leg of the "Road to Asian Games" blueprint
designed by ABAP president Ricky Vargas and given all-out support by
multi-industry mogul Manny V. Pangilinan, chairman of ABAP and
telecommunications giant PLDT.

The long road started with box-offs in Baguio and Manila, training
camps and tournaments in China and the United States and an
international tournament in Manila-the MVP Cup.(pr)