MANILA, PHILIPPINES
Seeking to become the Philippines’ first Olympic boxing gold winner, Nesthy Petecio needs to hurdle Sena Irie of Japan, who beat her twice in three previous encounters
One more win and Nesthy Petecio will add another gold medal to the Philippine campaign in the Tokyo Olympics that has already been unprecedented.
Local bet Sena Irie will be standing across the ring from Petecio as they contest the women’s featherweight top plum. The 21-year-old Japanese will be looking at not only defending her home turf, but also becoming just the third Japanese to win a gold in boxing.
Takao Sakurai won the men’s bantamweight gold in 1964, also in Tokyo, and middleweight Ryota Murata won the middleweight gold in 2012 in London.
Petecio, meanwhile, could become the first ever boxing gold medalist for the Philippines after the silver medals won by Anthony Villanueva in 1964 and Mansueto “Onyok” Velasco in 1996.
While Petecio has seemingly gone through the gauntlet on her way to the finals given the high level of world-ranked opposition she has faced, Irie’s path has not been fraught with as much threat and danger.
Petecio eliminated in the round of 16 world No. 1 Lin Yu-Ting of Chinse Taipei, projected by the Associated Press (AP) as the likely Olympic gold medalist. In the quarterfinals, Petecio got back at her tormentor in the 2018 World Championships, Yeni Arias Castaneda of Colombia.
