JAMES PALICTE beat Iraq’s Jaafar Abdulreal Sudani, 4-1, to advance to the men’s light welterweight quarterfinals in the Asian Boxing Confederation Asian Elite Men and Women Championships Wednesday night in Amman, Jordan.
Palicte, a 28-year-old veteran from Bago City, used his speed and accuracy in the last two rounds to make up for lousy opening round against the Iraqi.
“This is exactly what I trained for,” Palicte told BusinessMirror via internet call Thursday morning. “And I already adjusted for my next opponent.”
Mario Fernandez, however, lost to hometown bet Yousef Iashash, 2-3, in the men’s featherweight preliminary bout also on Wednesday night.
Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (Abap) Secretary-General Marcus Jarwin Manalo praised Palicte for getting his rhythm after a poor start.
“It’s good to see that James was able to make the adjustment in the second and third rounds after losing the first round in all cards,” Manalo said. “He became more assertive in the next two rounds and stayed in punching range.
Women’s minimum weight Althea Shine Pores fought Thailand’s Thipsatcha Yodwaree and light flyweight Aira Cordero Villegas battled Vietnam’s Thi Tam Nguyen late Thursday.