Petecio focused on her weight as PH boxing team set to enter bubble

Filipina boxer Nesthy Petecio. —PH ASIAN GAMES MEDIA POOL

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine national boxing team has yet to enter its bubble in Calamba, Laguna but Olympic hopeful Nesthy Petecio is already putting in the work.

Having to slog through virtual sessions, Petecio hopes she’s in the best condition possible before she and her teammates enter Inspire Sports Academy as she looks to shed some weight.

“I’d be focusing first on my weight actually,” said Petecio in an interview with the PSC Hour. “My weight is critical, that’s what I can say about it.”

Petecio is in the featherweight class and she needs to be, at most, 126 pounds as she prepares for the Olympic qualifiers.

A world champion in 2019, Petecio missed out on joining teammates Eumir Marcial and Irish Magno in the Philippines’ contingent for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after failing in the Asia-Oceania qualifying tournament last March.

The subsequent final qualifying tournament was then postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Petecio, who spent much of the lockdown period in her home province of Davao del Sur, will finally get a chance to train with her teammates as they expect to enter the bubble this weekend.

The 2019 Southeast Asian Games gold medalist said that her coach Nolito Velasco knows about her struggles but she hopes she can get to her fighting weight for the World Olympic Qualification Tournament in June.

“Coach Nolito is aware of my struggle,” said Petecio. “That’s the first thing I’ll focus on. The rest, well, I have trust on my coaches on what they would change on my training program.”

“Whatever their training is, I’ll do it so I can reach my weight. I know the punishment, I also know the reward. So I’ll persevere through this.”