Children and teenagers between the age of 10-18 take part at Bago city gymnasium after school. GETTY IMAGES

A gym in the Philippines stands at the forefront of producing Olympic boxing talents. Despite poverty, families gear up with torn shoes and frayed head guards, hoping to be the next success story from this talent factory.

Children and teenagers between the age of 10-18 take part at Bago city gymnasium after school, before they then sleep under the rings canvas at night. Located on the island of Negros, in the sugar-growing region known for its stark rich-poor divide, the city of 200,000 calls itself the Philippines' "boxing capital."

Eight of the 70 Filipino boxers who have made it to the Olympics began their journey at the Bago City gym. Boxers there train on peeling punching bags under the buzz of giant, old electric fans struggling to provide relief from the oppressive tropical heat.

The most recent Olympian from Bago, light-flyweight Roger Ladon, competed in Rio 2016 but failed to qualify for Paris 2024, leaving the city yearning for a new poster boy. "Life is hard here. Job opportunities are limited," said Larry Semillano, a Bago native and coach who fought at lightweight in the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

"To them, if they excel in it they believe they will have a better life," said Ignacio Denila, the city government's executive assistant for sports. "All of them idolise Manny Pacquiao (who is set to return to the ring)" Denila told AFP, referring to the eight-weight world champion who also rose from poverty on the southern island of Mindanao.


A gym in the Philippines stands at the forefront of producing Olympic boxing talents. GETTY IMAGES
A gym in the Philippines stands at the forefront of producing Olympic boxing talents. GETTY IMAGES


Bago lightweight Leopoldo Cantancio, who sadly passed away in a motorcycle crash, paved the way for future Olympians when he competed in the 1984 Los Angeles Games, reaching the round of 16. He also fought in the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

Since then, Bago fighters have won one Olympic silver medal and one bronze. Though Filipino boxers have yet to claim gold, boxing has contributed eight of the country's 14 Olympic medals to date, including three silvers and five bronzes.

"I hope to be recruited into the national team in order to join competitions and win medals abroad," AJ Vicente, 17, a current hopeful, told AFP. Semillano believes that Vicente, a right-handed flyweight who won a bronze at the Philippine national games last year, has a "70 percent" chance of eventually making it to the national team.

However, the coach added, "he needs to consume a lot more rice" before he can be considered for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics or Brisbane in 2032. "The skill is there. What we're trying to develop now is his power," Semillano concluded to AFP.