Philippine boxing stars Irish Magno and Nesthy Petecio will soon join their fellow Filipino Olympic hopefuls in training abroad to boost their bids in the Tokyo Games.

Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (ABAP) secretary-general Ed Picson told Rappler that the plans for foreign training are being made, but the details have not been finalized yet.

“We are considering several places for training. Depends on where we will be allowed to go by our government and [that of other countries],” said Picson.

So far only Olympic-bound Filipino athletes EJ Obiena, Carlos Yulo, and Eumir Marcial have been training abroad, while Magno remains in her hometown in Iloilo and has only been receiving online training.

Petecio, the 2019 women’s boxing world champion, also continues to train online while preparing for the delayed world Olympic qualifiers in June.

Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman William “Butch” Ramirez, though, would want to have bright Olympic hopes like Petecio join the sports bubble for national athletes and coaches once it’s established.

Ramirez has high hopes that the government sports agency will be able to set up a safe training bubble, claiming that the protocols are stricter than that of this year’s pro league bubbles.

“With these protocols, training can already start with or without a bubble,” claimed Ramirez on Friday, December 11 in the PSC year-end press conference.

There is no set date yet for the PSC’s sports bubble, which is currently waiting for IATF approval.

PSC’s protocols emphasized the formation of a “COVID-19 expert group” and implementation of multiple testings to be conducted on the athletes and coaches.

In the occurrence of a positive case, the government sports agency has also established protocols for retesting and will get the analysis of the expert group for “unusual” test results.

The PSC sports bubble is set to be established at the Inspire Sports Academy in Calamba, Laguna, where Chooks-to-Go restarted its 3×3 league.

The bubble will prioritize athletes competing for a slot in the Tokyo Olympics, which has been rescheduled to start on July 23, 2021. – Rappler.com