Paris Olympics: Petecio silenced the home crowd, enters quarterfinals

THE North Paris Arena went silent as Filipina boxer Nesthy Petecio defeated French favorite Amina Zidani in the Round of 16 in the 2024 Paris Olympics’ women’s 57kg boxing, earlier this morning (PH Time).

Photo Courtesy: AFP 

Petecio, who has now advanced to the quarterfinals, defeated hometown favorite Zidani, ranked third in the Summer Games featherweight class, 4-1 by via majority decision. 

The former Tokyo Games silver medalist has demonstrated that she and her Filipino teammates are far from finished with their medal chase, delivering a well-planned performance against France.

Petecio is a stunner

The 32-year-old Petecio got off to a poor start and needed some time to find her flow. However, when the second round began, the Filipino boxer came out swinging against her French opponent. 

Petecio dominated the second round, frequently landing her left hook. Zidani was then overwhelmed by the several amazing combos that the Filipinas devised that stung her. 

The Filipina boxer received unanimous approval from all five judges during the dominating second round, following a divided first. 

Photo Courtesy: AFP

The fighter from France sought to take advantage of a worn out Petecio in the third, landing strong punches while keeping her distance.

But Petecio turned it up again, unleashing a powerful left straight to end the fight. 

The bout may have been back-and-forth, but the Filipina boxer did more than enough to achieve the much-needed victory over Zidani. Petecio won the bout on four judges’ scores of 30-27, 29-28, 29-28, and 29-28.

Quarterfinals ready

Prior to defeating Zidani, the Filipino boxer enjoyed a dominating win over India’s younger and taller Jaismine Lamboria. Petecio revealed what happened during her latest battle, claiming that it was all part of their strategy. 

“Actually sa first round, tina-tantya ko talaga siya. Iniisip ko ‘wag muna magpahawak sakanya, pero aggressive rin siya eh,” Petecio says, before thanking her trainer for everything they’ve done previously.

Photo Courtesy: AFP

“Nung nalaman ko nga ‘yung score, sabi ko hindi, ‘di pwede to. Hindi pwedeng hindi ako mananalo dito. So sabi ni coach, mag-steady lang suntok talaga, so ayun nagawa namin ‘yun nung second round, solid si coach.”

All of Petecio’s victories will help her prepare for her next opponent, China’s Xu Zichun. 

Zichun has just won a tight 3-2 split decision over Colombian fighter Arbolefa Mendoza. Petecio and Zichun will face one other on Sunday at 9:30PM.

Petecio is currently in the Round of Eight, joining Aira Villegas and Carlo Paalam, both of whom have moved just one win away from a podium finish.