MANILA – Filipina amateur boxer Irish Magno vows to make Ilonggos proud when she competes in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics slated July 23 to August 8 this year.
Magno, the first Filipina and Ilongga boxer to qualify for the Olympics, promised to work hard while training at the Inspire Sports Academy in Calamba, Laguna.
“I always bring the name Iloilo in any competition because I am always proud to be an Ilongga,” the Janiuay, Iloilo-native said in an interview with Iloilo Sports LANG podcast on Sunday night.
Magno said she has no regrets with her decision to shift to boxing after playing basketball in her early years as it gave her the opportunity to represent the country in international tournaments.
“I was a late bloomer in boxing because I am into basketball before,” the 29-year-old Magno said. “One day, a local boxing coach approached me and convinced me to try boxing.”
“I participated in the National Open held in Robinsons Iloilo last 2008. That tournament eventually qualified me to be part of national team training pool,” added the Ilongga boxer.
Magno is one of the four Filipino athletes who have been qualified for the Olympics. The other players are fellow boxer Eumir Marcial, world gymnastics champion Carlos Yulo and pole vaulter EJ Obiena.
Magno was able to secure her ticket to the Tokyo Olympics despite not reaching the gold medal round after outpointing Tajikistan’s Sumaiya Qosimova in the box-off match in Amman, Jordan.
The Ilongga fighter’s road to Tokyo Olympics was not easy after losing to China’s Cai Zongju in the first round during the Amateur International Boxing Association in October 2019.
Magno also lost to Vietnam’s Thi Tam Nguyen in the women’s flyweight finals of the 2019 Southeast Asian Games and settled for a silver medal. It was her second defeat to Nguyen whom she lost to in the 2018 Thailand Open./PN
