AGE: 31 years old
SPORT: Men’s light flyweight
OLYMPIC EXPERIENCE: Two-time Olympian
MEDALS: World Championships, silver winner in 2007 and bronze winner in 2003 and ’01 Silver medalist, 2002 Asian Games
Fierce is the last word that would come to mind when you meet the country’s lone boxer at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Although the 30-year old Zamboangueño, exudes humility and gentleness, Harry Tañamor becomes the master of the four-cornered boxing ring during matches.
This year will be Harry’s 2nd time at the summer games, having represented the country in the 2004 Olympics in Athens. He looks up to boxing greats such as Oscar dela Joya and fellow Filipino boxers, Olympic bronze medallist Roel Velasco and WBC super featherweight champion, Manny Pacquiao. “Harry enthused with pride in his voice, “Magaling at matapang talaga ang mga boxers natin. Lumalaban talaga ang mga Pinoy.” (Our Filipino boxers are really skillful and courageous. Filipinos always fight the best way they can.)
Harry has ironed out his game plan for his second stint at the Olympics. “Alam ko na yung strategy ko at pag-iigihan ko pa lalo yung training ko para mas magaling yung laban ko,” he quipped. (I’ve mapped out my strategy and I will exert more effort in my training so I could put up an excellent fight.)
Beyond his victories in the boxing ring, Harry’s main success is making his family happy and proud. The Olympic hopeful says that he is happy whenever his wife and two kids are happy. “Importante sa kin yung suporta ng pamilya ko dahil sila yung nagbibigay sa kin ng inspirasyon.” (The support of my family is important because they serve as my inspiration.) Harry shares that he doesn’t want his kids to get into boxing as much as possible, “Ayokong masaktan sila, pero kung gusto talaga nila susuportahan ko pa rin sila.” (I don’t want my kids to get hurt, but if that’s what they really want to do, then I would still support them.)
When he is not training or preparing for a big meet, Harry enjoys his time with his wife and kids, “Namamasyal kami sa mall kasama yung mga bata.” (We go to the mall with the kids.)
Aside from his twice-daily boxing training under his coach, Patricio Gaspi, Harry works on his strength and technique by jogging, going to the gym, practicing sparring, free sparring and technique sparring. “Ginagawa ko yung lahat ng makakaya ko sa training para maging matagumpay ako sa Olympics kasi di lang ‘to para sakin. Para ito sa pamilya ko at sa bansa.” (I am doing my best with in training so that I could be successful in the Olympics. All my efforts aren’t just for me. This is for my family and my country.)
The future looks good for Harry and he is very optimistic. “Kung kaya ni Pacquiao, kaya ko din at hangga’t kaya ng katawan ko, sige lang.” (If Pacquiao can do it, I can too and as long as my body still allows it, I’ll keep on fighting.
After the Olympics, Harry will gear up for the Southeast Asian Games slated in 2009.
Despite his modesty and unassuming demeanor, this light flyweight boxer, son, husband and father is a true giant who deserves to be in the roster of Filipino boxing greats. He has so many things to be proud of - a happy family who loves him and gives him all out support, a nation rallying behind him and of course, a winning quick punch and jab.
Being the 5th of nine siblings, Harry’s interest in boxing was sparked when he was 19 through the influence of his older brothers who were also boxers in their town. His serious training only began in 1999 when he was 21 years old. He competed in the National Open and in the Philippine National Games in Zamboanga.
WELCOME to the Harry Tañamor odyssey.
The light-flyweight boxer has seen it all. Been to the top of the world early in the decade. Seen his reputation fade in a series of hard-luck moments. And lately, gotten back up as the lone star of RP amateur boxing, literally the only boxer in these Olympics.
“I am on a mission, and I’m working doubly hard to achieve it,” Tañamor said while training in Baguio City some weeks before the Games begins.
The odds look heavily stacked against the Zamboanga City-raised fighter. Or moreover, against a country that eats and breathes boxing.
For the first time since the 1960 Rome Games, there is only one Filipino boxer in the Olympics.
If the Games from that time to 2004 featured multiple RP boxers and not one of them has been able to bring home a gold medal, how can just one fighter better the country’s chances this time?
“I don’t think it will be easy,” Tañamor said. “But I know that I am training hard and praying that the luck of the draw will bounce my way so I could win the gold for the country.”
On the upside, however, if there’s one boxer who is a safe bet to go all the way, it’s Tañamor.
He is a regular fixture at the World Championships, winning the bronze twice (in 2001 in Belfast and 2003 in Bangkok) and the silver last year in Chicago.
In 2002, Tañamor secured the silver medal in the Asian Games in Busan, Korea. In the Southeast Asian Games in 2003 and 2005, he won the gold medal, also in the light-flyweight (under-48kilogram) classes.
In the 2004 Athens Olympics, Tañamor came into the Games a heavy favorite to win the gold medal but he never made it past the round of 16. He defeated a Tajikistan (17-12) in the preliminary stage before he was routed 45-25 by a Korean in the next phase.
But Tañamor seemed to have a glimpse of the crossroads after Greece. In 2006, he was belatedly scrapped from the team that was supposed to go to the Asian Games after allegedly incurring team infractions that included failing to attend training and international tournaments. Tañamor insisted he was sick and his failure to meet team commitments didn’t have anything to do with what many perceived was attitude-related.
To compound matters, Tañamor was eliminated unceremoniously in the national championships in 2007, an event he was expected to dominate.
“It wasn’t an easy time for me,” Tanamor said. “I trained from sunrise to sunset to show to people that even if I wasn’t part of the team, I was still ready whenever they needed me.”
That proved an invaluable mindset come the Chicago Worlds in November. He defeated an opponent from Wales, Tajikistan, the US, and Thailand in that order to enter the light-flyweight finals where he lost to Olympic-gold favorite Zhou Shimin of China. (That silver finish tied the best finish by a Filipino in the tournament behind Roel Velasco’s runner-up placing in the 1997 Worlds.)
Anybody who has any doubts about Tañamor’s chances in Beijing only needs to read the Olympic preview of Sports Illustrated which forecasts a bronze finish for Tañamor.
But the veteran fighter knows his country wants more than a third-place finish.
“The Olympics is an entirely different game. It depends on who is hungrier and who wants it more,” he said. “Everybody there is well-prepared, but I will make sure that I am more determined that anybody else.”
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