Athlete of the Month – Mario Fernandez
02 July, 2015
Athlete of June – Mario Fernandez
Philippines’ Mario Fernandez secured the gold medal at the Bantamweight class (56 kg) in the Singapore 2015 Southeast Asian Games with top performance. He is the most developed Filipino boxer and one of the best man athlete in the entire Southeast Asian region therefore the staff of the Asian Boxing Confederation chosed him at Athlete of June in our continent.
“I am so happy that Asian Boxing Confederation named me as Athlete of the Month. I was satisfied with my performance in the Southeast Asian Games where God gave me a victory against my strong opponents. My main future target is to qualify to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and won that event as well,” commented his award Philippines’ Mario Fernandez.
He was born in Valencia City, Bukidnon on July 13 in 1993 and began boxing very late only in 2009 when he was already 16 therefore Mario Fernandez did not have such a successful youth career as his current teammates as London 2012 Olympian Mark Anthony Barriga, ASBC Asian Youth Continental Champion Ian Clark Bautista or AIBA Junior World Champion Eumir Felix Marcial.
Fernandez was involved to the national team in 2012 which was a small surprise as he was an unknown athlete in the international level. Fernandez received the right to fight in the Taipei City Cup short after the London 2012 Olympic Games and he proved top performance in that preparation event which was his first ever international competition. In that event in Taipei he had to meet with four boxers but he did not five any chance to them and secured the gold medal in that competition.
The Bantamweight class (56 kg) boxer had a strong draw in the 2013 ASBC Asian Continental Championships in Amman, Jordan where he had to meet with Kazakhstan’s Kayrat Yeraliyev. The young Filipino boxer was able to win one round against his star rival but it was enough to advance to the Top 8 during his first continental event. He won one bout in the AIBA World Boxing Championships in Almaty later that year but India’s star Shiva Thapa stopped him in a tight bout.
Mario Fernandez took part in his first Southeast Asian Games in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar one and half year ago where he had realistic chance to do surprises. The Filipino boxer defeated Vietnam’s experienced Tran Quoc Viet and Thailand’s WSB hope Donchai Thathi which delivered for him a gold and his first big success.
Following his gold medal at the Lion’s Cup in Sri Lanka Fernandez was crowned in the Filipino National Games on May 2014 where he was too strong for his opponents such as talented Jonas Bacho. The Filipino team was well prepared to the Incheon 2014 Asian Games where their boxers proved top quality of boxing.
The 165cm tall boxer eliminated once again Thailand’s Donchai Thathi, Nepal’s Puran Rai and stroke back to India’s London 2012 Olympian Shiva Thapa in the quarter-final of the Incheon 2014 Asian Games. He lost to only China’s Zhang Jiawei which meant Fernandez claimed a bronze medal in the biggest Asian sport event short after his 21st birthday.
Philippines’ new sensation secured a silver medal in the President’s Cup in Indonesia this April and prepared with tough trainings to his second Southeast Asian Games. Mario Fernandez had an incredible world class opponent in the Southeast Asian Games, Thailand’s ASBC Asian Continental Championships bronze medallist Tanes Ongjunta who arrived to Singapore with unbeaten record in 2015. The Filipino boxer shocked his Thai opponent in the second round and defended his throne in that region defeating Ongjunta before the final bell. He delivered a remarkable performance in Singapore but there is not any stoppage in his life.
Mario Fernandez has been preparing to the upcoming ASBC Asian Confederation Continental Championships which will be held in Bangkok, Thailand and where his goal is to qualify to the AIBA World Boxing Championships.