By Ronnie Nathanielsz
Light flyweight Conrado Tanamor has had to settle for a bronze medal in the Asian Junior Boxing Championships held at the Baluan Sholak Palace of Sport in Almaty, Kazakhstan, losing to China’s Zubiao Chen in a fairly close semi final bout 20-17.
Tanamor, younger brother of World Championship silver medalist Harry Tanamor who qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, was the lone Philippine medalist on the PLDT– Smart four-man team that competed in the tournament.
Tanamor advanced to the semi finals with an impressive 30-15 victory over hard-fighting Sri Lankan Hewbwi Sanjeena to guarantee himself of a bronze medal. The Filipino counter-punched early in the bout to pile up a colmfortable lead and then used smart footwork to stay out of trouble in the last two rounds.
Amateur Boxing Association president Manny Lopez said the younger Tanamor was discovered during the recent Smart National Open Championships in Cagayan De Oro when he won the gold medal in the junior division.
The lone bronze medal placed the Philippines in a tie with Mongolia and Syria in tenth place in the 17 nation tournament with 110 boxers competing/ Hosts Kazakhstan finished overall champions with 7 gold and 4 silver medals followed by Uzbekistan with 3 golds and 2 bronzes, India with 1 gold, silver and 5 bronze medals and China with 2 silvers.
