Ladon was the aggressor in the opening round with left and right combos and appeared to score ahead on points, but the Colombian made quick adjustments and eventually took control by the end of the round.
Ladon continued to throw rapid combinations but most of it failed to land on targets as Martinez started to score with clear shots to Ladon’s face, as the Filipino failed to put up a good defense late in the round. Martinez was the more active fighter in the last two rounds, scoring on clean shots to get the judges’ nod in his favor.
Of the 13 Philippine qualifiers in different sports, Charly Suarez and Roden Ladon were the country’s hope for a gold medal but Suarez wasn’t lucky in his first attempt leaving Ladon as the only hope of another medal for the Philippines.
With Ladon’s loss, the Philippines is now banking on the nine other athletes who are competing in different sports for another medal. Earlier, Weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz won the silver medal in the women’s 53kg category.
Diaz’s silver medal prize came after a series of failed attempts by some members of the Philippine delegation including Ian Lariba, the lone qualifier (women’s singles) in table tennis and Jessie Lacuna in the Men’s 400 m freestyle.
First to suffer a loss in the first day of competition was Charly Suarez of boxing. He lost to Joe Cordina of Great Britain via a split decision.
Until this year, the Philippines had not won any Olympic medal since 1996 but boxing has given the country at least five of the nine medals it has garnered since its participation in the Olympics.
