The boxer; Olympic watching

I have mixed feelings about boxing being one of the few Olympic sports that will get us on the medal tally board. Before Hidilyn Diaz, EJ Obiena and Caloy Yulo, our medal hopes were all pinned on our boxers. In Tokyo in 2020, three of them came through – Nesthy Petecio and Carlo Paalam with silvers and Eumir Marcial with a bronze. In our Olympic history, eight of our 14 medals came via boxing (athletics, swimming and weightlifting contributed two each).

We’ve forgotten most of the past medalists, so I did a search and here they are: bronze medalists – Teofilo Yldefonso (swimming) in 1928 and 1932; Simeon Toribio (athletics) in 1932; Miguel White (athletics) in 1936. In weightlifting, Hidilyn Diaz got a silver in 2016 and a gold in 2020. In boxing, Jose Villanueva, bronze in 1932; Anthony Villanueva, silver in 1964; Leopoldo Serantes, bronze in 1988; Roel Velasco, bronze in 1992; Onyok Velasco, silver in 1996. It’s now time to add gold to our boxing medals.

Athletes, to reach Olympic caliber, put in so much training, with discipline and dedication way beyond what mere mortals like me are capable of. Boxers literally take physical punishment each time they step into the ring – in training and in competition. They give so much – and endure even more.

The 1970 Paul Simon song “The Boxer” says it all:

In the clearing stands a boxer

And a fighter by his trade

And he carries the reminder

Of every glove that laid him down

Or cut him till he cried out

In his anger and his shame

“I am leaving, I am leaving”

But the fighter still remains

*      *      *

Watching the post-bout interview of Eumir Marcial was heartbreaking. There was no anger, only utter disappointment – and shame. He said he didn’t know how to explain his loss to the Filipino people; he had no excuses (not even that he had to move up a weight class, or that his opponent was so much taller and had a much longer reach). “Naghihingi po ako ng pasensya sa lahat ng Pilipino na naniwala at sumoporta sa akin,” he said, on the verge of tears.

The 28-year-old Zamboanga City native had set aside his promising professional career in the US (five wins so far) and sacrificed so much to get to Paris to better his bronze