At A Glance
- Mark Ashley Fajardo opened the country's campaign at the Thailand Open International Boxing Tournament 2025 on a resounding note with a convincing first-round victory in his weight class on Saturday, May 24, at the Indoor Stadium Huamark in Bangkok.
Mark Ashley Fajardo opened the country’s campaign at the Thailand Open International Boxing Tournament 2025 on a resounding note with a convincing first-round victory in his weight class on Saturday, May 24, at the Indoor Stadium Huamark in Bangkok.
Fajardo, a bronze medalist at the ASBC Elite Men & Women Championships last December, dominated India’s Amit Kumar with a 5-0 unanimous decision to advance to the quarterfinals in the men’s welterweight (65kg) class.
The Filipino fighter delivered powerful shots to overwhelm his rival and earn identical 30-27 scores from all five judges.
The victory arranged Fajardo his next bout against the dangerous Nikita Pohozhyi after the Ukrainian overpowered Singapore’s Chua Rui Yan in a referee-stopped-contest decision in the third round.
Meanwhile, Aaron Jude Bado is competing in the packed men’s bantam (55kg) division against Uzbekistan’s Dusmatov Faryozbek.
Other Filipino fighters seeing action are Jay Bryan Baricuatro in the men’s fly (50kg), John Paul Napoles in the men’s light (60kg), Ronald Chavez Jr. in the men’s light middle (70kg), Ofelia Magno in the women’s light fly (48kg) and Riza Pasuit in the women’s light (60kg).
The tournament is part of the PH team’s preparations for the 2025 Southeast Asian Games that Thailand is also hosting in December where the Filipino hopes to maintain or eclipse their four-gold, five-silver, one-bronze haul in the 2023 edition in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.