Mark Anthony Barriga
Event: Boxing (light-flyweight division)
Born: June 11, 1993
Career
The Philippines has an impressive record in professional boxing, with world champions like Manny Pacquaio and Nonito Donaire. However, the Philippines has never captured a gold medal since making its Olympic debut in 1924. Mark Anthony Barriga is the country’s latest hope for a gold.
The 19-year-old fighter is smaller than all other entries in the flyweight 48-kg category. But Barriga doesn’t see that as a huge disadvantage considering where he’s come from.
“I learned the sport when I was 10 years old,” he said. “My father encouraged me to go into boxing to protect myself so nobody could bully me in school or wherever I went.”
That’s more or less how it played out, though it took a while for Barriga to find himself as a fighter.
“During my early days in the gym, I did not enjoy boxing,” he said. “I was the smallest among all the boxers. Most of the time, my sparring partner was always bigger than me. What could you expect? I was always beaten. After months of training, I noticed that little by little, I could exchange punch by punch, body to body, toe to toe with my partners. That started my interest in pursuing my boxing career.”
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Go,go Anthony. If Manny can beat big guys in the ring, so can you. Good luck.
Gogogo anthony remember david beaten up goliath???
Wlang malaking nakakapuwing!!!!!!
too bad natalo na siya. sayang! promising pa naman ang bata. but again, there’s always a next time. so train ulit. :)