TOKYO - For the first time since 1932, the Philippines is guaranteed of a multi-medal finish after featherweight Nesthy Petecio defeated Yeni Arias of Colombia via unanimous decision (30-27 twice and 29-28 thrice) in the quarterfinals of women's boxing.
The 29-year-old Davao del Sur native has been in impressive form so far in the tournament, taking down Marelat Sakobi of Congo in the Round of 32 before a narrow win over over top-ranked Lin Yu-Ting of Chinese Taipei. However, he was at her best against Arias.
Petecio started the fight at southpaw as she employed a very different strategy from her Round of 16 match. With her coaches knowing that Arias is an attacker, Petecio stayed on the outside and waited for her chances to attack first or time her counters.
In the first round, Petecio landed a steady stream of right hooks and straight lefts to catch Arias coming in. The Colombian kept moving forward but Petecio knew exactly what to do.
The Filipina stepped back every time Arias lunged in and then threw clean counter combinations.
All judges scored the first for Petecio 10-9.
Fighting with a little bit of desperation, Arias upped her work rate in the second round as they continued to press forward. Petecio took her chances as she also stayed in the pocket to exchange on the inside that opened up a chance for Arias to land combinations.
However, three judges still scored the second round for Petecio to give her a big advantage heading into the final round.
Arias knew she had to come up with something big in the third so she became reckless with her attacks. After a reminder from coach Don Abnett not to stay in front of her opponent, Petecio adjusted as she went back to what gave her more success in the opener.
Four judges scored the fight for Petecio while one had it for Arias to send the Filipina featherweight into the podium.
It has been quite the turnaround for Petecio who, a few months ago, did not even know if she'd make it to Tokyo after her dismal performance in the Asia and Oceania Olympic Qualifying Tournament. However, she put in a lot of work together with the entire Philippine boxing team in their training bubble in Calamba, Laguna and in Thailand that allowed her to be in great shape.
Petecio will now take on Italy's Irma Testa who defeated Caroline Veyre of Canada via unanimous decision in their quarterfinal meeting.
Testa will tower over Petecio with her 5-foot-9 frame as compared to the Filipino who only stands at 5-foot-2. However, Petecio has good experience in overcoming height and reach advantage as Chinese Taipei's Lin is as tall as the Italian.