ONE of the Filipino athletes who had a solid shot at a gold medal at the just-concluded 18th Asian Games in Indonesia, it is understandable the disappointment that boxer Rogen Ladon is feeling, more so because of the circumstances how things ended for him which he described as far from ideal.
The last man standing for the Philippine boxing team, flyweight Ladon was on track for a gold medal until a head-butt from opponent Jasurbek Latipov of Uzbekistan in their gold medal on Saturday derailed his quest, forcing him to settle for a silver medal.
Absorbing an ugly wound on his right eyebrow that oozed with blood following the head-butt, the ring doctor forced to stop the fight 22 seconds into the second round.
Moments later, the match was sent to the judges’ scorecards which yielded in favor of Mr. Latipov, 3-1.
Mr. Ladon said he was very disappointment of the result, believing he was doing well until the head-butt, which he claimed to be suspicious in nature.
“It’s a big disappointment. It’s a major disappointment. Not only me, but the entire country aspired for the gold medal,” said Mr. Ladon after the medal awarding ceremonies.
“He [Latipov] was in the ropes and when he sprung back, he gave me the head butt,” he said.
Philippine sports and boxing officials lamented the way thing ended for Mr. Ladon and some of the Filipino boxers who wound up on the raw end of what they deemed to be questionable decisions.
They vowed to raise much-needed reforms to world boxing governing bodies so as to limit occurrences of such incidence.
All in all, the eight-athlete Philippine boxing team chalked up three medals at the 2018 Asiad — one silver and two bronzes from light flyweight Carlo Paalam and middleweight Eumir Felix Marcial.
Mr. Ladon’s silver was in addition to that won by judoka Kiyomi Watanabe in the women’s 63kg event. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo
