PH boxing team shines with 4 golds in Europe

Filipino boxers Paul Julyfer Bascon, Clark Vicera, Carlo Paalam and Riza Pasuit holding up their medals from the Philippine boxing team’s European campaign. –ABAP PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–The Philippine boxing team returned from a successful European campaign with four gold medals across two tournaments in Serbia and the Netherlands in recent weeks.

The strong showing started at the 63rd Belgrade Winner Elite Men’s and Women’s Boxing Tournament held from March 13 to 17, where Clark Vicera and Riza Pasuit led the charge.

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Vicera opened his campaign with a unanimous decision win over Kazakhstan’s Dias Berikbay, a 2024 Youth World Boxing Championships bronze medalist. He then defeated Ibrahim Aljohani of Saudi Arabia and Nurzat Ongarov of Kazakhstan before clinching gold via a split decision over Türkiye’s Salih Samet Oruc.

Pasuit dominated the women’s 57kg division, sweeping Victoria Vergos of Canada, Areti Stergiou of Greece, and Ece Asude Ediz of Türkiye, all by unanimous decision.

Paul Julyfer Bascon added a bronze in the men’s 60kg class.

Clark Vicera wins gold in the 63rd Belgrade Winner Elite Men’s and Women’s Boxing Tournament. –ABAP PHOTO

Days later, the team competed in the Eindhoven Box Cup in the Netherlands, where Vicera struck gold again. He defeated Belgium’s Sameer Ardawan in the semifinals and Ukraine’s Ruslan Bednychenko in the final, both by unanimous decision, recovering after dropping the opening round in the final.

Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Carlo Paalam completed the gold haul in the men’s 55kg division.

After missing the Serbia leg due to illness, Paalam returned strong with wins over Germany’s Justin Sahin and France’s Billal Bennama, before beating England’s Abdul Burton in the final.

“We’re happy to bring home four gold medals from two high-caliber tournaments,” said Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (ABAP), president Marcus Manalo.

“More than the medals, we’re really happy with the performance of our boxers. They showed skill and determination in every match, as well as their fighting spirit when things got difficult against really good opponents.”

He added that beyond the medals, the boxers’ performances against strong international competition signal progress ahead of the Asian Games in September.

The delegation also included coaches Ronald Chavez, Elmer Pamisa, and Mario Fernandez, along with physical therapist David Abraham Giray.