Marcus Manalo, secretary general of the Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines, stated that the 19-year-old Bado has a bright future following his victory in the men's flyweight bout of the 2023 ASBC Asian U22 Boxing Championships in Bangkok.
Manalo claimed that Bado already has talent; they were waiting for him to mature and accumulate sufficient experience by competing in prestigious events like the Southeast Asian Games and the Asian Games.
He shares a weight class with Olympians Rogen Ladon and Carlo Paalam, making it more difficult for him to be selected for the national squad.
In contrast to Ladon, who competed in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics and is already 29 years old but is still in his prime, Carlo Paalam, the silver medalist from the Tokyo Olympics, is just 24 years old.
In the 2019 Palarong Pambansa in Davao City, Bado was one of their discoveries, according to Manalo, but they could not include him in the national squad since he competed behind Ladon and Paalam.
Bado trained during the pandemic in his birthplace in Cagayan de Oro before the federation formally accepted him last year, choosing not to become discouraged.(Romeo Braceros Jr.)
Photo: ASBC