CEBU, Philippines — Filipina boxer Nesthy Petecio made her Olympic debut a memorable one after nailing the Philippines’ first win in boxing event of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The Santa Cruz, Davao del Sur native Petecio hammered out a 5-0 unanimous decision victory over
Marcelat Sakobi Matshu of the Democratic Republic of Congo yesterday morning at the Kokugikan Arena.
Four judges had uniform scores of 30-27 for Petecio while the other one saw it closer, 29-28.
Thus, the 29-year-old Petecio advanced to the Round of 16 in the women’s featherweight division (54-57 kg).
Petecio, the 2019 AIBA Women’s Boxing Championship featherweight gold medalist, needs only two more wins to assure Team Phl of at least bronze medal.
Petecio is up for a tough grind though as she will face next Yu-Ting of Chinese Taipei, the top-seeded fighter in the division, in the Round of 16 slated on July 26.
It was not all jubilation for the Phl contingent in the first full day of action at the Games after taekwondo jin Kurt Ryan Barbosa, 22, slumped to a rough Olympic start.
Barbosa, a first-time Olympian like Petecio, was easily dismantled by a superbly dominant World No. 1 Jang Jun of South Korea, 6-26, in the opening round of taekwondo men’s -58 kg class at the Makuhari Messe.