Christopher Camat (born September 7, 1979 in

San Manuel, Pangasinan San Manuel, officially the Municipality of San Manuel ( pag, Baley na San Manuel; ilo, Ili ti San Manuel; tgl, Bayan ng San Manuel), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Pangasinan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a p ...

) is a retired amateur Filipino-American boxer. He captured two bronze medals in the middleweight division at the

Southeast Asian Games The Southeast Asian Games, also known as the SEA Games, is a biennial multi-sport event involving participants from the current 11 countries of Southeast Asia. The games are under the regulation of the Southeast Asian Games Federation with supe ...

(2001 and 2003), and later represented the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

. Throughout his sporting career, Camat has been training as an elite athlete for Team Caltex Boxing Club under his head coach and mentor Nolito Velasco.

Early life

Born and raised in

Pangasinan Pangasinan, officially the Province of Pangasinan ( pag, Luyag/Probinsia na Pangasinan, ; ilo, Probinsia ti Pangasinan; tl, Lalawigan ng Pangasinan), is a coastal province in the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region of Luzon. Its capit ...

, Camat emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

at the age of ten. His father Eduardo left the nation alone for California in 1979, until he petitioned for his wife Mercedes and their three children (including Camat) to join and accompany him. Lasted for two years, Camat's father was deported back to Manila, when the U.S. immigration authorities discovered that he misrepresented his petition. While his father started a new family in Manila, Camat managed to remain in the United States with his mother and sisters despite of their allegations over the deportation case. Camat studied at

Morro Bay High School Morro Bay High School is a four-year public high school located in the city of Morro Bay along the coast of San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Students of the school are typically residents of Morro Bay, Los Osos (to the south), ...

San Luis Obispo, California San Luis Obispo (; Spanish for " St. Louis the Bishop", ; Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, in the U.S. state of California. Located on the Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly halfwa ...

, where he lettered and excelled in

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

, and

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

. He trained in the Police Athletic League under his coach Pat Murphy, and eventually brought home numerous trophies in local tournaments, moving him up to second in the U.S. amateur boxing standings for the

middleweight Middleweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the middleweight division is contested above and up to . Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have be ...

class. After graduating from high school, Camat offered a boxing scholarship at

Northern Michigan University Northern Michigan University (Northern Michigan, Northern or NMU) is a public university in Marquette, Michigan. It was established in 1899 by the Michigan Legislature as Northern State Normal School. In 1963, the state designated Northern a uni ...

, but later deferred it because of his impending deportation. Admittedly, Camat resided in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

where he works as a finance manager for a car dealership.

Career

As a member of the Philippine boxing squad, Camat made his official sporting debut at the

2001 Southeast Asian Games The 2001 Southeast Asian Games ( ms, Sukan Asia Tenggara 2001), officially known as the 21st Southeast Asian Games, was a Southeast Asian multi-sport event held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This was the fifth time that Malaysia plays as SEA Games ...

, where he claimed a bronze medal in the light middleweight class. The following year, at the

2002 Asian Games The 2002 Asian Games ( ko, 2002년 아시아 경기대회/2002년 아시안 게임, Icheoni-nyeon Asia gyeonggi daehoe/Icheoni-nyeon Asian Geim), officially known as the XIV Asian Games ( ko, 제14회 아시아 경기대회/제14회 아시안 � ...

Busan, South Korea Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, w ...

, Camat expectedly failed to surpass Pakistani boxer Kashif Mumtaz Karim in the opening bout with a decisive score of 11–18, despite displaying a clean fight that could have brought him into the medal rounds. Recovering from a fatal loss at the Asian Games, Camat added another bronze medal to his career hardware, when he lost the semifinal match to Thailand's Somchai Chimlum in the men's middleweight division at the

2003 Southeast Asian Games The 2003 Southeast Asian Games ( vi, Đại hội Thể thao Đông Nam Á 2003), officially known as the 22nd Southeast Asian Games and also known as Vietnam 2003, was a Southeast Asian multi-sport event held from 5 to 13 December 2003 in Hano ...

Hanoi, Vietnam Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...

. Camat qualified for his naturalized Filipino squad in the men's middleweight division (75 kg) at the

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

by receiving a berth and finishing second behind Kazakhstan's

Gennady Golovkin Gennadiy Gennadyevich Golovkin (Cyrillic: ; also spelled Gennady; born 8 April 1982), often known by his nickname "GGG" or "Triple G", is a Kazakhstani professional boxer. He has held multiple middleweight world championships, and is a two-time ...

from the

Asian Championships An Asian Championship is a top level international sports competition between Asian athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. List of Championships (Summer Olympic Sports) ;Aquatics * Asian ...

Puerto Princesa, Palawan Puerto Princesa, officially the City of Puerto Princesa (Cuyonon: ''Siyudad i'ang Puerto Princesa''; fil, Lungsod ng Puerto Princesa), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Mimaropa region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, ...

. Camat was also expected to become the Filipino flag bearer in the opening ceremony, but later surpassed his privilege to fellow boxer

Romeo Brin Romeo Brin (born March 10, 1973 in Puerto Princesa, Palawan) is a retired amateur Filipino boxer. He represented the Philippines in three editions of the Olympic Games (1996, 2000, and 2004), and has captured numerous medals in both lightweight a ...

, as he decided to witness his action and prepare fully for the next day's bout. He ousted his opening match to a vastly superior Russian boxer and top medal contender

Gaydarbek Gaydarbekov Gaydarbek Abdulovich Gaydarbekov (russian: Гайдарбек Абдулович Гайдарбеков) (born October 6, 1976 in Kaspiysk, USSR) is a Russian boxer of Avar heritage, who has won two Olympic medals in Middleweight including the ...

in an effortless decision 13–35.

References

External links

ESPN Olympic Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Camat, Christopher 1979 births Living people Middleweight boxers Olympic boxers for the Philippines Boxers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Filipino people of American descent Sportspeople from Pangasinan Boxers at the 2002 Asian Games Filipino male boxers SEA Games medalists in boxing SEA Games silver medalists for the Philippines Competitors at the 2001 SEA Games Competitors at the 2003 SEA Games Asian Games competitors for the Philippines