Setting up a camp in Amman, Jordan and eventually competing in the ASBC Asian Elite Men and Women Boxing Championships currently top the agenda of the Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines.
ABAP secretary general Marcus Manalo told Daily Tribune yesterday that a full team is being eyed to participate in the Jordanian capital from 30 October to 13 November.
To get accustomed to the local conditions, the ABAP would like to send the boxers and coaches there way ahead of time.
“Hoping to also join the pre-tournament training camp there from 14 to 29 October,” Manalo said.
A small number of boxers — accompanied by Australian tactician Don Abnett — had just returned from a four-week training and competition stint in the United States.
Veteran Rogen Ladon and female punchers Hergie Bacyagan and Aira Villegas trained at Team USA’s headquarters in Colorado Springs before plunging into action in a pocket slugfest in Pueblo, also in Colorado.
The ASBC event is a part of the preparation of the boxing team to the Cambodia Southeast Asian Games in May next year in Phnom Penh where it intends to at least match its three-gold output in Hanoi last May.
Also a prime target for the Abap is a solid showing in the Hangzhou Asian Games in September 2023.
Aside from Ladon, also expected to figure prominently in the runup to the SEA Games and Asiad are Hanoi champion Ian Clark Bautista and Tokyo Olympic medalists Eumir Marcial, Carlo Paalam and Nesthy Petecio.