Philippine light flyweight boxing star Harry Tanamor was defeated by South Korea's Hong Moo Won in the round of 16 competition of the 48 kg category in the Olympic Games late Saturday night, which ended his Olympic dream.

The 27-year-old Army corporal Tanamor lost to the 23-year-old Hong Moo Won, 25-42, under powerful, accurate blows from the rival who had a height disadvantage.

Tanamor, 2001 and 2003 World Championships bronze medalist, virtually turned into a punching bag when he failed to answer Hong 's furious attacks.

In round one both boxers drew their fight 10-10. But in round two the match turned into a lopsided battle when Hong pulled away 13-5 and never looked back in the next two rounds.

Tanamor's loss ended the country's medal hopes in the boxing competition. Three other Filipino boxers were earlier eliminated.

The Filipinos have so far nothing to show in the medal standings after nearly nine days of the Games, but sports officials are confident they have surpassed the Filipinos' modest accomplishment in the Sydney Games four years ago, where the country failed to win a single medal.

With three Philippine records serving as a consolation for a disappointing performance in swimming at the Olympic Aquatic and the sensational first-round victory of Jasmin Figueroa over former world champion Natalia Valeeva of Italy in the first round of the women's individual archery match last week, the Filipinos have something to crow about. However, Figueroa lost to a Spanish archer in the round of 32.

Three Filipinos are scheduled to see action in taekwondo starting Thursday, while Eduardo Buenavista is scheduled to arrive sometime next week to prepare for the marathon which is the last event of the Olympics on Aug. 29.

However, faint hopes are entertained in these actions, except perhaps a Philippine record, from Lerma Bulauitan Gabito, who will see action on Wednesday in the women's long jump.

Of the 16 Filipino athletes in the original roster, 11 have already been eliminated or had their events completed.

The closest the Philippines came to bagging the Olympic gold was when boxers Anthony Villanueva and Onyok Velasco landed in the finals of the 1964 Tokyo and 1996 Atlanta Games, respectively.

Source: Xinhua