Aira’s bronze feels like gold

Former peanut vendor punching way out of poverty

PARIS – Aira Villegas’ journey in the 2024 Olympics ended in a semifinal windup.

No gold, no silver, but she had played her part in Team Philippines’ memorable, historic ride – her bronze feat to be celebrated and looked upon by the next generations of Filipino Olympic medal hopefuls.

Villegas’ Cinderella run as a neophyte Olympian came to an end at the hands of bemedaled Turkish fighter Buse Naz Cakiroglu, a former world champion and the Tokyo Games silver winner who dazzled her way to a unanimous 5-0 victory before a packed crowd at Court Philippe Chatrier inside Roland Garros.

“Talagang magaling, mas technical,” said Villegas of her opponent, also her conqueror in a quarterfinals bout in the 2022 World Championship.

Overwhelmed and beaten, Villegas settled for the bronze but vowed her journey as a boxer isn’t stopping in her semis finish in the Paris Games.

“Syempre po sa future trabaho pa rin. Hindi natatapos dito ang lahat,” said Villegas, from a family of boxers in Tacloban, Leyte.

Boxing is Villegas’ bread and butter, her monthly allowance and incentives helping the family in their daily lives. It had helped them recover from the devastation of Yolanda in their province in 2013.

“Wala ako sa Tacloban noon, wasak ang bahay namin,” said Villegas, then already training in the ABAP (Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines) camp after being discovered in the Philippine National Games.

She’s one of five from six Villegas siblings who took up boxing, taking the cue from eldest Ruel and the second eldest Rominic, still in the sport as a referee.

“Sa kanya po nanggaling lahat. Kasi noong bata pa po ako, nakikita ko si kuya, ‘yung boxing ang tumulong sa kanyang scholarship sa pag-aaral. Nakaka-inspire. Looking back, si kuya ‘yung nag-provide sa school niya and everything,” said Villegas.

“Tapos gusto kong maranasan ‘yung naranasan niya sa paglalaro. Pumupunta siya sa ibang lugar, pagbalik niya, inaabutan niya si mama ng pera mula sa prize money niya,” Villegas added.

And she’s been doing the same since becoming a national boxer – long way she’s gone from being a peanut vendor, daughter of a balut vendor.

For her bronze, Villegas stands to receive P2 million from the government, and much more from the private sector. Fellow boxer Eumir Marcial won the bronze in the Tokyo Games and received around P10 million in incentives.

At 29, Villegas said she’s still chasing an Olympic gold as she pursues her criminology course at the University of Baguio.

She’s good for bronze at the moment as she ran smack into Cakiroglu who’s now heading to the gold-medal bout versus China’s Wu Yu, a 4-1 point winner over Kazakh Nazym Kyzaibay.

Villegas lost to a better fighter but the Philippine camp believed the Filipina fighter could have gotten a chance if Cakiroglu’s fall in the second round wasn’t ruled a slip.

“Tinamaan ni Aira ng right straight, knockdown ‘yon. Kung binilangan, pwedeng maging 3-2 at pwedeng nagbago ang laban sa third round. Pwedeng maging agresibo ‘yung Turkish, at may tsansa si Aira kung nag-engage,” said coach Reynaldo Galido.

It was Villegas who’s given a standing eight count in the opening round. “Mahinang tama lang, hindi ko nga naramdamam,” said Villegas.

In the end, everybody agreed though that Cakiroglu deserved the win.

Villegas, meanwhile, deserved adulation in punching her way to a podium finish in her very first Olympics.

She’s the latest from boxing to medal in the Olympics, joining Jose Villanueva (1932), Anthony Villanueva (1964), Leopoldo Serantes (1988), Roel Velasco (1992), Onyok Velasco (1996), Nesthy Petecio (2020), Carlo Paalam (2020) and Eumir Marcial (2020).