WHEN Women?s Boxing makes its debut in the 2012 London Olympics, Filipinos are hoping that the star of the event will finally be one of their own.

For now the dream rests on the shoulders of Annie Albania, whose ring exploits are already quite familiar to the fight crowd.

Fortunately for the country, Albania is not crushed by the weight of expectations to bring home the elusive Olympic gold, taking it all in stride even as she sets her heart on the goal.

She continues to sleep soundly at night while working hard like the small-town girl that she really is, gunning for the jackpot in the Philippine Sports Commission-Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines Gym inside the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.

?I don?t feel any pressure when people tell me that it?s I who can possibly end the country?s long wait for an Olympic gold 2012 in London,? says the 27-year-old daughter of a farmer-couple from the rustic town of Banga in South Cotabato.

The pressure, though, may be within, as Albania also readily admits, ?Giving the country its first Olympic gold is foremost in my mind. I have a sense of responsibility to try my best and end the drought.?

Unmarked by all the punches she received during a stellar career which netted her a silver medal in the World Boxing Champions two years ago in Ningbo, China, golds in the 3rd Asian Indoor Games and the 2005, 2007 and 2009 Southeast Asian Games, she believes the truest test of her ring greatness is winning the gold in the Summer Games.

Deadly serious, Albania, who has a physical education degree from the University of the East, now fights as a bantamweight. She knows that the London Games offers the best opportunity for her to join the elite list of the country?s sporting greats.

?Women?s boxing is in the Olympics for the first time. I would love to be a part of history ? and winning it will make it truly memorable,? she adds.

National coach Roel Velasco, a bronze medalist in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and silver medalist in the 1997 Worlds, believes that Albania has got what it takes to end the country?s painful wait for an Olympic gold.

?Annie?s good. She has the right attitude and the skills to make it. She?s already world-class and it?s now a matter of giving her the right exposure and support for her to sizzle in the Games,? says Velasco, whose younger brother Mansueto ?Onyok? came within a whisker of handing the country its first gold during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

Velasco, a Petty Officer First Class, points to the lady boxer?s thunderous right cross as her biggest weapon. It was the same punch which decked Thai Hansa Kadeewong in the first round, making Albania the lone gold medalist among 13 Filipino finalists in the walkout-marred SEA Games 2007 in Thailand.

Mitchel Martinez, winner of two bronzes in the 2005 and 2006 Worlds, speaks glowingly of Albania. ?The best thing about Annie is her sense of responsibility. She?s exceptional,? says Martinez, a Special Police Officer 2 with the Philippine National Police.

Albania?s fights nonetheless are fun to watch. Standing a shade over 5-foot-3, she?s an elusive target in the ring because she dances and jabs smoothly before uncorking her trademark right cross.

People wonder at the source of Albania?s power but Elias Recaido, a member of the ABAP coaching staff and 1994 Asian Games gold medalist in Hiroshima, believes that her power is buried deep in her consciousness.

?She?s been into farming at an early age and knows the importance of hard work,? Recaido notes.

For snagging the gold in the Laos SEA Games, Albania also fattened her bank account by P600,000, courtesy of the Philippine Sports Commission and ABAP chairman Manny V. Pangilinan. ?My family bought a piece of land in Banga and also did some repairs on our house,? she shares.

ABAP executive director Ed Picson, no stranger to the topsy-turvy world of boxing, pledges the ABAP?s all-out support for Albania. ?Definitely, Annie is our brightest star at the moment. She has the talent and skills to excel internationally and she carries herself in a manner which we can be proud of. She is hardworking, very coachable and no prima donna,? explains Picson.

Pangilinan has dangled a P12 million prize to sweeten the success of what will be the Philippines? first Olympic-gold medal winner and P3 million to an Asian Games gold medalist.

Unknown to many, boxing wasn?t on the radar of Albania when she arrived in Manila from Banga in 2000. But she stirred the athletic scene when she excelled in hepthatlon, playing out of UE in the UAAP trackfest. Velasco spotted talent at the Rizal Memorial track oval at the height of recruitment in 2001 for the women?s boxing team, as directed by former ABAP president, now Philippine Olympic Committee first vice president and ABAP vice president, Manny Lopez.

Albania remembers that meeting well ? and quite fondly. ?I didn?t ask, I just said ?yes? to coach Roel. I just wanted to prove that a woman can also excel in this kind of sport,? recalls Albania. ?