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Olympics: Meet the Aussie coach who instilled winning mentality in Philippine boxers

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Manolo Pedralvez

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Australia" s="" English="" coach="" Kevin="" Smith="" Philippines="" boxing="" Nolito="" and="" Australian="" national="" program="" director="" Don="" src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/news/08/04/kevin.jpg"/><figcaption>Australia&#x27;s English coach Kevin Smith (from left), Philippines boxing coach Nolito Velasco, and Australian national boxing program director Don Abnett. Rick Olivares/file</figcaption></figure></div>Coach Roel Velasco considers Australian boxing consultant Don Abnett the national boxing team’s “lucky charm” at the Tokyo Olympic Games.“Dati noong mga Cuban coach tayo isa lang nauuwi nating medalya, ngayon may tatlo na kaya ang tawag ko kay coach Don lucky charm,” Velasco, a 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games bronze medalist, noted, referring to boxers Nesty Petecio, Eumir Marcial, and Carlo Paalam.Petecio became the first Filipina boxer to win an Olympic medal silver after losing to hometown bet Sena Irie by unanimous decision in the women’s featherweight boxing finals of the Tokyo Summer Games at the Kokugikan Arena Tuesday.A few hours before Petecio’s match, flyweight Paalam remained in the hunt for gold with a stunning 4-0 upset in the quarterfinals of reigning Uzbek world and Olympic champion Shakhobidin Zoirov. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/08/01/16/australian-coach-offers-to-help-ph-boxers-in-rio">Australian coach offers to help PH boxers in Rio</a></li></ul>In what turned into a blessing for Paalam, a devout Christian, the match was stopped in the second round when both suffered cuts due to an accidental clash of heads, the Olympic rookie emerging the clear winner by points after taking control of the opening round.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/08/03/21/tokyoolympics-nesthy-petecio-silver">Olympics: Gallant Petecio claims silver medal after loss to Japan&#x27;s Irie</a></li></ul>The win guaranteed Paalam of at least a bronze medal while Marcial booked a spot in the semis with his first-round knockout of Armenian Arman Darchinyan last Sunday, assuring himself, too, of a bronze, in what will go down as the country’s most successful Olympic boxing campaign ever.Often seen hovering in the PH boxing camp’s corner virtually throughout the Olympic boxing meet is the bespectacled Abnett giving instructions to the Filipino fighters.It wasn&#x27;t by luck or by accident that Abnett was hired as the consultant of the Association of Boxing Alliances of the Philippines, according to ABAP secretary general Ed Picson. “He (Abnett) has been with us for more than 2 years. I’ve known him since 2009 when he was head coach of the Australian national boxing team. He brought his team to Baguio several times for workouts with our boxers,” said Picson of the national boxing training facility handled by the Philippine Sports Commission in the country&#x27;s summer capital.“When he (Abnett) became available in 2019, I grabbed him.” <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/08/03/21/tokyoolympics-carlo-paalam-result">Olympics: Paalam assured of bronze after huge upset over Uzbek champ</a></li></ul><div>ABNETT SOLID CREDENTIALS</div>Who wouldn’t grab the opportunity given the Aussie mentor’s extensive and impressive credentials?Among them is Abnett’s long working experience with the Australian Institute of Sport, the renowned high-performance training institution located in the capital city of Canberra credited for the international success of athletes from Down Under. The ring tactician also boasts of a 3-star coaching certificate — the highest level — from the International Boxing Association, the world governing body known by its French acronym AIBA, and also served as the national development coach of Boxing Australia, the Australian boxing body.He was also at the helm of Australian boxing squad in the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympics and “2 Commonwealth Games and 10 world championships,” according to a report posted on <a href="https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/en/news/don-abnett-filipino-boxers-can-end-25-year-olympic-drought-in-the-sport">Olympics.com</a>.Armed with this background, Abnett has applied a methodical and scientific approach to the Olympic boxers in the craft of the “sweet science,” with Petecio and Paalam among his notable disciples.“Mas naging pulido yong mga suntok ko dahil sa mga turo ni coach Don (My punches became more polished because of the teaching of coach Don),” acknowledged Petecio of the lessons learned from him during the special Philippine Sportswriters’ Association virtual forum hours after she won the silver medal. In the same session, Paalam, on the other hand, bared that he had had long conversations with Abnett about boxing, with the mentor describing him as a “smart” boxer. “Marunong daw ako dumiskarte (He told me I have ring savvy),” the boxer said.<div>COACH CITES AUSSIE PROGRAM</div>Velasco likewise acknowledged the successful program drawn up by Abnett to keep the boxers in fighting shape.“Nakatulong din ’yong training program ni coach Don para di mapagod ’yong boxers natin sa training,” said the Velasco, whose elder brother and national women’s coach Boy Velasco stayed with Paalam, Petecio and Irish Magno with Abnett in the team’s training camp in Thailand for 3 months.“Simple lang ’yong training program niya (Abnett), scientific, para hindi mabugbog ’yong mga boksingero natin. (His training program is simple, scientific, so that that our boxers don’t get beat up in training). Minsan kasi na-overtrain at nalalaspag sila (Sometimes they overtrain and burn out),” he said.In his interview with Olympics.com, Abnett praised the Philippine coaching staff, leaving them most of the time to devise the ring tactics for the boxers. &quot;I actually observed before I came here to work as a consultant coach, was the confidence of the Filipino athletes when they came up against the bigger countries, they didn&#x27;t really believe in themselves, and that was a negative from the start,” he was quoted as saying.&quot;And that&#x27;s the one thing, rather than interfere with the coaching, because there was nothing wrong with the coaching. So the main thing I worked on was confidence.&quot;He was pleased with his handiwork with Petecio, noting that “Nesthy has won a gold medal in 2019 in the Women&#x27;s World Championships (due to her better confidence). “But Nesthy in the past, she&#x27;s allowed distractions to affect her performances. But I can tell you at the moment, I&#x27;m hoping that&#x27;s going to go all the way through to the Olympic Games. Her mental side of it and the physical side of it is spot on,” Abnett said then. Petecio and Paalam have certainly taken to heart the lessons learned from the low-profile Aussie coach, who was apparently not as successful in handling his compatriots in his past two Olympic stints.With the Philippines, however, Abnett, thanks to his diligent and dedicated work, the Tokyo Summer Games experience has become third time is a charm. <div>For breaking news and latest developments on the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, visit <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/tokyo-olympics">https://news.abs-cbn.com/tokyo-olympics</a></div>

Together with technique, boxing consultant Don Abnett taught the Filipino fighters in Tokyo to believe in themselves.