Team Philippines’ Nesthy Petecio celebrates after defeating France’s Amina Zidani in their women’s 57 kg preliminary boxing match at the Paris Olympics 2024, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/John Locher)
MANILA, Philippines—Team Philippines’ Nesthy Petecio was overcome with a sense of urgency in her Round of 16 bout in the Paris Olympics 2024 57kg women’s boxing tournament.
While Petecio advanced to the quarters, the road to her victory over home bet Amina Zidani of France didn’t come easy, especially after the first round which saw the Filipino succumb to the French’s numerous blows and haymakers.
“Actually, in that first round, I was sizing her up. I was thinking about avoiding her touches but she was aggressive. When I saw the scores [after Round 1], I thought: ‘this can’t be.’ I can’t lose here,” said Petecio in Filipino with One Sports.
“My coach told me to stay steady and punch right away and thankfully, I did it in the second round.”
Fortunately, Petecio recovered from Zidani’s flurry just in time to notch a split decision victory at North Paris Arena on Saturday morning (Manila time).
The second round served as Petecio’s boost back on offense, throwing numerous combinations combined with fast head movements to avoid Zidani’s punches.
Petecio was also highly observant of how she rocked Zidani in the second round, which turned out to be the pivotal frame for the Filipino slugger.
“When she got hit with my hook, I really felt my fist hit her plus she got hurt with body shots. She really got hurt with those body shots.”
Now, Petecio only needs one more win to be assured of a medal finish in the Paris Olympics.
However, she’d need to do that against China’s Zichun Xu on Sunday at 9:30 pm, Manila time.