Veteran Harry Tañamor is the country's best hope for a gold medal in the World Boxing Championships which started on on Tuesday.

MILAN — Light-flyweight Harry Tañamor and his four teammates made the limit during the weigh-in early Monday morning and worked out for a little more than an hour, all looking fine on the eve of the 2009 AIBA World men’s amateur boxing championships.

“Handa na po sir. Lalaban kami,” a smiling Tañamor told Filipino sportswriters as he jogged his way to his room after a workout at the vast lawn of the 960-room Ripamonti Residence, home to the more than 500 boxers from some 100 countries competing in the 10-day tournament.

Under the watchful eyes of coaches Patricio Gaspi and Ronald Chavez, bantamweight Joan Tipon, featherweight Charly Suarez, lightweight Joegin Ladon, and light-welterweight Genebert Basadre did some running, shadow boxing, and calisthenics as they joined several others from other countries in practicing on a beautiful summer morning.

Nobody from among the five took a hard time making the weight, something that elated the two Filipino coaches a day before the biennial, prestigious tournament opens at the vast Mediolaforum in the heart of this fashion capital.

“Lahat okay ang timbang at saka maganda ang kinilos kanina sa workout,” said Gaspi, who handled the RP team’s month-long training with the help of two Cuban coaches in Havana, Cuba before proceeding here a few days ago.

Without batting an eyelash, the two Pinoy coaches predicted that Tañamor remains the brightest hope for a medal in this tournament where the country’s best-ever performance was dished out two years ago by Tañamor himself.
 
An Athens and Beijing Olympics veteran, who has carried the national colors for more than a decade, Tañamor became the best ever Pinoy performer in this tournament launched in 1974 by winning a silver medal in the 2007 edition in Chicago.