TWO Filipina athletes, transitioning from different combat sports, could emerge as the Philippines’ most promising prospects for Olympic boxing medals.
Hergie Bacyadan, a decorated athlete in wushu and vovinam, and Claudine Veloso, an accomplished kickboxer, are returning to their roots in boxing, both with the shared ambition of clinching the country’s first gold medal in the sport.
They started training with the national team at the Association of Boxing Alliances of the Philippines gym inside the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Manila over the weekend.
Both athletes are making comebacks in boxing, seizing the opportunity presented by the Paris Olympics scheduled for August, as vovinam and kickboxing are not yet included in the Olympic calendar.
Competing in the female middleweight division, Bacyadan has consistently represented the Philippines across various sports, consistently bringing home medals.
Fresh from her gold-medal triumph in the World Vovinam Championship, Bacyadan has redirected her focus to boxing, vowing to secure the gold at all cost.
“I will do everything, that is my goal in Paris,” vowed Bacyadan, who commenced her journey as a national athlete with the wushu team in 2016.
In her first foreign stint, Bacyadan bagged the silver in the women’s 65-kg category of the 8th Sanda World Cup.
Years later, she joined the Philippine boxing team, earning a bronze in the 2022 ASBC Asian Elite Men & Women Boxing Championships in Amman, Jordan.
Veloso, a gold medalist in kickboxing at the Cambodia SEA Games last year, was initially a member of ABAP’s Team B before being drawn to mixed martial arts training in Baguio City. Veloso is set to compete in the women’s bantamweight category.
On Jan. 13, both athletes will join the national boxing team, led by Tokyo Olympics silver medalists Carlo Paalam and Nesthy Petecio, at a training camp in Australia.
Others in camp are Rogen Ladon in the 51 kgs., Mark Ashley Fajardo and Paul Julyfer Bascon (63.5 kg), Ronald Chavez Jr. and Marjon Piañar (71kg) and 92 kg – John Nobel Marvin, 50 kg – Aira Villegas, 60 kg – Riza Pasuit.
Eumir Marcial was the first Filipino boxer to qualify for the Paris Games following his silver-medal finish in the light heavyweight class last October in the Hangzhou Asian Games.