Philippines, 17 Sep 2025
  Home >> News

 


BOXERS

CURRENT CHAMPIONS 

FORMER CHAMPIONS   

RATINGS                       

NEWS           

FORUM        

FIGHT GALLERIES        

RING CARD GIRLS        


 
 
News  


Pinays cited for wrong reasons


PhilBoxing.com



Aira Villegas (L) and Nesthy Petecio (R).

Paris Olympic bronze medalists Nesthy Petecio and Aira Villegas were cited in a recap of the women’s boxing event in last year’s Summer Games but for the wrong reasons. Petecio was recognized for battling Julia Szeremeta of Poland in a rousing climax of their featherweight semifinal bout only she lost via a 4-1 decision. The third frame was named the Best Round of women’s boxing in Paris by the London weekly publication Boxing News. Villegas, on the other hand, was noted for taking the Best Punch of the women’s competition from Buse Naz Cakiroglu of Turkey, a picture-perfect right uppercut that found her chin and drew a collective roar from the crowd in the venue.

Petecio and Villegas joined gymnast Carlos Yulo as the Philippines’ only podium placers in Paris. While they deserved credit for their efforts, the “dark” consolation was both fighters were singled out for contributing to the moments of their opponents’ glory. At least, they were noticed.

Here’s the account of the Best Round: “Notes about Szeremeta read ‘flashy,’ ‘patient’ and ‘punch-picker’ until the third round. With a place in the final at stake, she reinvented herself as an all-action, front-foot fighter. Szeremeta recovered from losing the opening round on all five scorecards to set up a decider and then, stood toe-to-toe with the heavy-handed Filipino southpaw, out-brawled her, forced her to give ground and won the round on all five cards.” Boxing News called it “one of the best women’s bouts of Paris 2024 (as Szeremeta) ditched her flashy punch-picking style to tie the bout on four cards going into the last and then edged the exchanges in a thrilling final three minutes to win it in what was a fair upset.”

Szeremeta, 12 years younger, scored an unexpected reversal over Petecio who bagged a silver in the previous Olympics. Petecio, 32, had won three straight bouts before running into the Polish fighter, defeating India’s Jaismine Lamboria (5-0), France’s Amina Zidani (4-1) and China’s Xu Zichun (5-0).

In Villegas’ case, she was totally overwhelmed by Cakiroglu and took a standing eight-count in the first round. Here’s the account of the Best Punch: “Behind on the cards, Villegas went for Cakiroglu at the start of the third. The Turkish southpaw tightened her defenses and waited. When the opening was there, she placed a right hook behind Villegas’ elbow that set up her next punch, a scorching right uppercut that landed under the Filipino’s chin. The punch sent a chorus of “ooooohs” around Roland Garros Stadium.”

Villegas, making her Olympic debut, advanced to the semis after beating Morocco’s Yasmine Moutaqui (5-0), Algeria’s Roumaysa Boualam (5-0) and France’s Wassila Lkhadiri (3-2).


Click here to view a list of other articles written by Joaquin Henson.


Recent PhilBoxing.com In-House articles:

  • Pakistan's Sameer Khan Set to Battle for UBO Youth World Title in Brico Santig’s Sep 27 Show in Thailand
    By Carlos Costa, , Tue, 16 Sep 2025
  • Crawford Not the First Lightweight to Distinguish Himself at Super Middleweight
    By Teodoro Medina Reynoso, , Tue, 16 Sep 2025
  • SAMBO Pilipinas is Southern NSA of the Year 2025
    By Lito delos Reyes, , Tue, 16 Sep 2025
  • Kingsley “The Black Lion” Ibeh To headline historic “Legacy Nights” Inaugural Pro Boxing event in El Salvador
    , Tue, 16 Sep 2025
  • Smarts over power
    By Joaquin Henson, , Tue, 16 Sep 2025
  • HALL OF FAME FLIES FLAGS AT HALF-STAFF FOR TWO-DIVISION CHAMPION RICKY HATTON
    , Tue, 16 Sep 2025
  • Kazakhstan tops the medal table at the inaugural World Boxing Championships 2025 thanks to victory in the final bout of the competition
    , Tue, 16 Sep 2025
  • THRILLA IN MANILA GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY 13: JOE FRAZIER’S HUMBLE BEGINNINGS AS AN AMATEUR FIGHTER
    By Maloney L. Samaco, , Mon, 15 Sep 2025
  • A New King, A New Challenger: Turki Alalshikh Proposes Crawford-Benavidez While Canelo Alvarez Faces Defeat with Humility
    By Dong Secuya, , Mon, 15 Sep 2025
  • Highly Questionable Title Eliminator
    By Teodoro Medina Reynoso, , Mon, 15 Sep 2025
  • Yoseline Perez Earns Silver Medal at Inaugural World Boxing Championships
    , Mon, 15 Sep 2025
  • 21-year-old Filipino wins at Germany rapid chess tournament
    By Marlon Bernardino, , Mon, 15 Sep 2025
  • Nagoya Nightmare: Naoya Inoue Notches One-Sided Decision over Murodjon Akhmadaliev
    , Mon, 15 Sep 2025
  • Inoue’s Philippine Connection: Which Pinoy Super Bantamweight Could Challenge “The Monster?”
    By Carlos Costa, , Mon, 15 Sep 2025
  • Yoseline Perez Advances to the Finals at the World Boxing Championships Perez Set to Face Chinese Taipei’s Hsiao-Wen Huang for 54-Kilogram World Title
    , Mon, 15 Sep 2025
  • Canelo Gets Outboxed, Loses Undisputed Title to Crawford
    By Carlos Costa, , Sun, 14 Sep 2025
  • A Masterpiece of Boxing: Terence Crawford Dethrones Canelo Alvarez in Historic Showdown
    By Dong Secuya, , Sun, 14 Sep 2025
  • LEWIS CROCKER IS CROWNED THE NEW IBF WORLD WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPION
    , Sun, 14 Sep 2025
  • Battle of Undefeated: Callum Walsh Vanquishes Fernando Vargas Jr.
    By Dong Secuya, , Sun, 14 Sep 2025
  • Undercard Inferno: Mbilli and Martinez Deliver a Super Middleweight War Ending in a Thrilling Draw
    By Dong Secuya, , Sun, 14 Sep 2025
  • Crawford to defy odds?
    By Joaquin Henson, , Sun, 14 Sep 2025
  • Clash of Titans: The Final Predictions for Canelo Álvarez vs. Terence Crawford
    By Dong Secuya, , Sun, 14 Sep 2025
  • Weigh-In Results: Naoya Inoue vs. Murodjon Akhmadaliev
    , Sun, 14 Sep 2025
  • Inoue and Akhmadaliev Make Weight for Sunday's Battle, Watch it LIVE on Facebook!
    By Carlos Costa, , Sun, 14 Sep 2025
  • IIEE North Cotabato and Metro Central are the Golden Champion on 3x3 Basketball and 3x3 Chess
    By Marlon Bernardino, , Sun, 14 Sep 2025




  •  



     
    PhilBoxing.com has been created to support every aspiring
    Filipino boxer and the Philippine boxing scene in general.
    Please send comments to feedback@philboxing.com


    PRIVATE POLICY | LEGAL DISCLAIMER
    developed and maintained by dong secuya
    © 2025 philboxing.com.