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The International Olympic Committee (BTF) Boxing Working Group announced via virtual meeting on Monday that the World Qualifiers for the Tokyo Olympics have been canceled.
The BTF has taken over the role of organizing boxing competitions at the Olympic Games after the International Boxing Association (AIBA) was suspended by the Olympic body in 2019. The suspension remains in effect.
The tournament was originally scheduled for May 2020 in Paris, France, but was postponed for this year due to the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic.
Two other incomplete qualifiers, the Americas and Europe, will advance, but had to be moved to May and June, respectively.
The Olympics are scheduled for July.
ABAP Secretary General Ed Picson, who attended the meeting with more than 30 Asian countries, said the forum was chaired by the Head of the Working Group, Morinari Watanabe, from Japan. Lenny Abbey, another IOC official and member of the Task Force, gave the hour-long presentation.
The Working Group also made similar presentations on the other three continents separately.
Picson said the Task Force explained that due to time constraints and safety concerns, it was decided to forego the World Qualifiers.
ABAP President Ricky Vargas said “this could be beneficial to our cause as some of our fighters are ranked among those who have yet to qualify. I hope we get at least two more in Tokyo.”
Two Filipino boxers have previously qualified through the Asian / Ocean Qualifying Tournament held in Amman, Jordan in early 2020. They are middleweight Eumir Felix Marcial and women’s flyweight Irish Magno.
At the moment, several boxers are training in “bubble conditions” at the INSPIRE Sports Academy in Calamba, Laguna and are scheduled to leave for Thailand for a joint training camp later this month.
Among them are Magno, current world featherweight champion Nesthy Petecio, Carlo Paalam, Rogen Ladon, Ian Clark Bautista, Mario Fernandez, Aira Villegas and others.
The BTF is scheduled to make the official announcement of who will qualify for Tokyo (due to cancellation) in March.
