Riza Pasuit, Ronald Chavez Jr. enter Round of 16 as Team PH finds mixed fortunes at World Boxing Championships

It was a night of highs and lows for the Philippine boxing contingent at the World Boxing Championships on Saturday, Sept. 6, as Riza Pasuit and Ronald Chavez Jr. punched their way into the Round of 16 while teammate Junmilardo Ogayre saw his campaign come to an abrupt end.

Pasuit, a Southeast Asian Games silver medalist in 2023, showed her pedigree early by dismantling Saudi Arabia’s Pagad Alnaimi. 

The bout ended in the second round after the referee intervened, awarding Pasuit a referee-stopped contest (RSC) win in the women’s 60kg division. 

Her next test looms against Brazil’s Rebeca De Lima Santos, who skipped the opening round with a bye.

Chavez Jr., meanwhile, had to grind out a razor-thin split decision against Ireland’s Matthew McCole in the men’s 70kg class. 

Three judges from Egypt, Brazil, and Bulgaria saw it 29–28 in favor of the Filipino, while the other two leaned toward McCole with the same margin. 

Ipinagpatuloy nina Riza Pasuit at Ronald Chavez Jr. ang maiigting na panalo upang itulak ang Team Philippines sa pagmartsa sa susunod na round ng preliminaries nitong Sabado sa World Boxing 1st World Boxing Championships 2025 sa Liverpool, England.https://t.co/gopSHX0FZJ

— Abante Tonite (@AbanteTonitePH) September 7, 2025

The hard-earned win now pits Chavez against France’s Makan Traore, who is coming off a dominant unanimous decision victory over Kan Chia-Wei of Chinese Taipei.

But the celebration was tempered when Ogayre fell short in the men’s 60kg division, outclassed by Kazakhstan’s Biibars Zhexen, who swept the scorecards for a 5–0 victory.

Despite the setback, Team Philippines remains well in contention, with Olympic silver medalist Carlo Paalam, Mark Ashley Fajardo, and Jay Bryan Baricuatro still fighting at press time. 

Paalam is up against Junior Alcantara of the Dominican Republic in the men’s 55kg, Fajardo is testing Ukraine’s Elvin Aliiev in the 65kg, while Baricuatro takes on Elvin Aliiev of Ukraine in the men’s 50kg bracket.

The results underline the unpredictable nature of the global stage, where one punch can tilt fortunes — and Team PH is proving it can both dominate and endure in Liverpool.

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