Amateur career
Payla got his start in boxing at the Palarong Pambansa and in tournaments held by the ABAP. [1] [2] He was scouted by Bobby Jalnaiz, who is also from Cagayan de Oro. [3] [4] He first joined the Philippine national boxing team in 2001. In his first international tournament at the Balado Cup, a prestigious amateur tournament in Cuba, he won the flyweight division gold medal at 22 years old. [5] [6] [7] He was recognized as the best foreign boxer in the tournament. [8] This led to his first SEA Games stint, where he won a bronze medal, but lost to Somjit Jongjohor of Thailand 20–10 in the semis. [9] [10] Jongjohor went on to win the gold medal that year. [11] Payla then capped off the year by winning the silver medal at the Feliks Stamm International Boxing Championships. [12]
In 2002, Payla won three international tournaments and got a bronze medal at a international boxing tournament held in Pyongyang. [13] He then competed in the 2002 Asian Games flyweight division. [14] There, he lost to Pakistan’s Nauman Karim and was not able to medal. [15] In 2003, Payla competed at the 2003 Xinjiang International Boxing Championships where he lost to China’s Guo Xianshuan despite protests from the Philippine team. [16] He then competed at the 2003 Afro-Asian Games, where he took home a silver medal after losing to Akhil Kumar. [17] He also competed at the 2003 SEA Games. [18]
In 2004, Payla competed at the 2004 Asian Amateur Boxing Championships in the flyweight division. [19] In the semifinals, he won over Tulashboy Doniyorov of Uzbekistan, which qualified him for a slot at the 2004 Athens Olympics. He then won the gold medal by defeating South Korea's Kim Ki-Suk. [20] At the Olympics, he failed to make it out of the first round, losing to Doniyorov. [21]
Payla once again competed at the Asian Games in 2006. [22] He qualified for the semifinals by stopping India’s Kumar Jitender. [23] In the semifinals, he won over Yang Bo. This gave him an opportunity to face off against Jongjohor once again, who by this time had been a world champion in 2003. [24] [11] He had also said earlier that Payla would be "a piece of banana" if they met in the final. Payla then upset Jongjohor 31–15, and won the gold medal. [25] [26] This was the Philippines' first gold medal in boxing since the 1994 Asian Games. [25] He was one of four Filipino athletes to win the gold medal at that year's Asian Games along with Antonio Gabica (billiards), Joan Tipon (boxing), and Rene Catalan (wushu). [27] [28] They were given ₱1,500,000 by the Philippine government as an incentive for winning. [29]
In 2007, Payla competed at that year's AIBA World Boxing Championships, a qualifier for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. [30] He picked up his first win of the tournament by beating Welsh boxer Andrew Selby and went on to beat England's Khalid Said. [31] [32] However, he failed to make the quarterfinals as he lost to American boxer Rau'shee Warren. [33] It was also during this time that it is believed that he suffered a rotator cuff injury. [34]
The following year, Payla continued trying to qualify for the Olympics. [35] In one of the qualifiers, he lost to Anvar Yunusov of Tajikistan. He then tore a tendon on his left shoulder while training for the final Asian Olympic qualifying tournament. [34] [36] The injury made him inactive for the rest of the year. In 2009, Payla officially retired. [34]
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