Philippines topped the team rankings in the Hiroshima 1994 Asian Games where the ex-Soviet boxing powers attended at the first time

The 1994 edition of the boxing tournament of the Asian Games was held in Hiroshima, Japan from October 4 until the 13th. The event was the twelfths Asian Games and the eleventh boxing tournament in the history of the multisport event. The Hiroshima 1994 Asian Games was the first when the ex-Soviet Central Asian boxing powers could attend at the very first time in Japan where the medal rankings were won by the Philippines.
The Soviet Union was collapsed in 1991 and 15 new strong boxing countries came up in the international level events. Among them Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are located in the Asian continent and these nations changed the strengths of the Asian Games.
The South Koreans have done a remarkable performance their boxers won all of the 12 gold medals in the 1986 edition which is record in the history of the Asian Games. South Korea topped the medal rankings in 1962, in 1966, in 1970, in 1974, in 1978, in 1982, in 1986 and in 1990 but their position was lost in 1994 when Philippines took over them.
The first boxing tournament was held in 7 men weight classes in Manila in 1954 but from the second edition boxers could attend in 10 different categories. The Olympic Council of Asia raised the number of the weight classes up to 11 in the 1966 edition and also added a new category raising to 12 the divisions in 1982. Boxers could attend in the 1994 edition from the 48kg up to the +91kg weight categories.
Record number of seven countries claimed gold medals in 1990 and it was repeated by the strong Asian boxing powers in 1994. Philippines achieved three titles, Kazakhstan, South Korea and Uzbekistan took each two gold medals in Hiroshima. Thailand, Iran and Japan were the further gold medallist nations in the event.
Thirteen countries won medals in the Beijing 1990 Asian Games and fourteen nations were able to get at least one podium place in 1994. Next to the gold medallist nations Pakistan, China, Saudi Arabia, India, Indonesia, Syria and Turkmenistan also achieved at least one bronze medal in Hiroshima.
Altogether 141 elite boxers from 24 nations attended in the Hiroshima 1994 Asian Games which was another record in the history of the boxing event. The participating countries at the Hiroshima 1994 Asian Games were the followings: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Chinese Taipei, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Thailand, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
Philippines’ Mansueto Velasco impressed in the final of the light flyweight (48kg) and he was able to beat Thailand’s Pramuansak Phosuwan in the gold medal contest. In this category Kazakhstan’s super talented Bulat Dzhumadilov lost his quarter-final bout closely but later he became AIBA World Champion and two-time Olympic Games silver medallist.
Philippines’ second title was achieved by Elias Recaido who claimed bronze in 1990 which he changed into gold in 1994 following his triumph over Japan’s Kenji Nakazono in the final of the flyweight (51kg). Philippines’ third title was taken by Reynaldo Galido who stopped Pakistan’s Usman Ullah Khan in the final of the light welterweight (63.5kg) where Kazakhstan’s Bolat Niyazymbetov claimed bronze medal who is coach in South Korea in our present days.
Thailand’s Somluck Kamsing dominated the featherweight (57kg) in the Hiroshima 1994 Asian Games and two years later he became Olympic Champion in Atlanta. Kazakhstan’s strong duo Nurzhan Smanov (67kg) and Kanatbek Chagatayev (71kg) claimed the countries historical gold medals in the Asian Games.
Uzbekistan dominated the heavyweight (91kg) and super heavyweight (+91kg) in the competition where Alisher Avezbayev and star Oleg Maskayev claimed their titles. South Korea’s Lee Seung Bae (75kg) defeated Kazakhstan’s Arkadiy Topayev in the final of the middleweight (75kg) while Japan’s Tsuyoshi Yaegashi also proved top performance in the Hiroshima 1994 Asian Games.

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