The latest boxer to win a gold medal was Eumir Felix Marcial, who knocked out Tay Jia Wei of Singapore at 0:48 of the second round to win the fifth gold medal in boxing for the Philippines.
Four other Filipino boxers share four gold medals to the boxing contingent in the early part of the competition. They include: Ian Clark Bautista, Mario Fernandez, Junel Cantancio and Josie Gabuco (women’s boxing).
Gabuco, the lone Filipino female gold medalist in the ongoing competition, overwhelmed Chuthamat Raksat of Thailand with a barrage of punches that clearly outpointed the Thai boxer.
Gabuco, 28, a single mother, has consistently won gold medals in her division division (48kg) since the 2009 games in Vientiene, Laos.
The Philippines is competing in the 28th Southeast Asian Games from June 6 to 15, 2015 in Singapore, the 28th season host country.
The country has sent 472 athletes and 136 sports officials to this year’s games. The Philippine contingent is participating in 35 out of 36 sports that are scheduled to be played in the ongoing competition. There are 11 boxers competing in both men and women boxing.
While boxing contributed five of the 21 gold medals, it is the biggest for the Philippines boxing since the 2009 SEA Games.
Ed Picson, Executive Director of Alliance of Boxing Associations of the Philippines praised the boxers for their exceptional performance in the games.
“Though we expect more, we are still very happy with these victories,” Picson said.
The Philippines has taken the fifth place in gold medal standing (21) in the ongoing competition. The contingent has also bagged 23 silver medals and 34 bronze.
