Games-Marcial spearheads Filipino boxing juggernaut in Singapore (Reuters)
By John O’Brien SINGAPORE, June 10 (Reuters) – The Philippines boxing squad dodged and weaved their way to the top of the Southeast Asian Games medals table on Wednesday, proving emphatically to be masters of the region and indicating that the archipelago is well prepared for ‘life after Manny’. The country’s pugilists have long lived in the shadow of eight-weight world champion Manny Pacquiao with the nation searching for a new star to emerge in the wake of the 36-year-old’s meek surrender to Floyd Mayweather last month. All 10 boxers in the team picked up medals and when the final tally was added up, they will head home with five golds, three silvers and two bronzes, trumping the usual dominant force in the region Thailand, who managed a measly two-gold haul.