BRINGING the power of Filipino fists once more into the Olympic ring, Filipina boxer Nesthy “Nesh” Alcayde Petecio will represent the Philippines in the featherweight division at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Petecio procured a spot at the 2024 Paris Games by defeating Esra Yildiz Kahraman of Turkey in the semifinals of the 2024 Boxing 1st World Qualification Tournament (women’s 57 kg division) held in Busto Arsizio, Italy. She achieved the Olympic quota by winning the 4-1 split decision.
Prior to the upcoming Paris games, the 32-year-old Davaoeña made her Olympic debut in the featherweight class at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where she took home a silver medal and became the first Filipina boxer to win an Olympic medal.
“Lagi kong sinasabi ‘yong walang hihinto hangga’t walang ginto,” Petecio promised during the 2022 Philippine Sportswriter Association Awards. True enough, she has amassed over a hundred boxing experiences, win-or-lose, which has earned her OLY status.
Petecio’s boxing prowess was not built overnight; the southpaw started out wanting to play basketball and eventually turned to boxing for survival before striving for an Olympic gold medal.
Are you excited about Petecio’s gold-winning performances at the 2024 Olympics in Paris? Learn about her humble beginnings and vision for a grand outgoing from the Olympic scene.
Prizefighting for daily survival
Petecio was raised on a farm in Santa Cruz, Davao del Sur, where her family gathers chicken droppings to sell as fertilizer. Back then, she was solely interested in basketball as a sport until her father directed her to practice boxing as a self-defense.
Petecio detailed her humble upbringing in episode 4 of the Go Hard Girls Podcast in March 2020, “Makakakain kami puro utang. So, [ang] ginagawa namin [kapag] may inter-barangay, mga palaro, sasali talaga kami kasi alam naming may premyo. Manalo-matalo, may pambili kami ng ulam, may pambili kami ng bigas.”
At 11, Petecio met her first opponent during a local celebration—Araw ng Davao. In the eyes of the public, the fact that her opponent was a man and had a stronger physique than she did, particularly in terms of experience, added to her disadvantage.
Still, she fought, and most people went to watch the battle between the two. Petecio may have been a novice in the boxing scene at that time, only knowing the ‘backward and jab-straight’ techniques taught by her father, but she emerged victorious in the match.
Days later, Petecio met Coach Roel Velasco, a veteran boxing Olympian who earned a bronze medal in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. This was when her journey to becoming part of the Philippine boxing team began.
From winning streaks to a personal debacle
Petecio prevailed in several international boxing matches before becoming well-known at the Olympics. Her gold-worthy achievements include the 2019 AIBA Women’s Boxing Championship in Ulan-Ude, Russia; the 2019 Thailand Open International Boxing Championship; the 2015 President’s Cup in Indonesia; the 2019 Southeast Asian Games in the Philippines; and the 2023 Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia.
From her roster of accolades, Petecio did not miss out on getting a hold of silver and bronze medals. Among these accomplishments were her bronze medals from the 2012 Asian Championships held in Vietnam and Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, and her historic silver medal from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
It was in 2018 that Petecio would lose her winning streak—a battle against China’s Yen Jun Hua in the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia. The game was also controversial, as three judges allegedly obstructed the 2:3 split decision.
Other than the critical defeat, Petecio soon spiraled into almost a year of depression due to a breakup with her long-time girlfriend. With two heavy losses in a year, she questioned her faith and sacrifices, becoming hesitant even to wear her boxing gloves.
Expectations for Petecio’s second Olympics
Clinching a spot at the Olympics again is tougher than it seems for the Filipina boxer. After a successful stint at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Petecio missed the immediate opportunity during the 2023 Asian Games—the battle against Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yun Ting in Hangzhou Gymnasium.
At the time, Petecio’s early elimination abated her hopes for a second Olympic venture, making her qualification for the 2024 Paris Olympics a dream come true.
Petecio also hinted at her vision for a grand exit as a boxing athlete: she aims for the gold and plans to retire after hearing discussions on the exclusion of the boxing sport at the 2028 LA Olympics. In an interview with ABS-CBN News, Petecio expressed, “Parang ito na yung final destination ng career ko, so gusto kong mag-exit ng maganda-ganda dito.”
The professional boxer would also dedicate the game to the LGBTQIA+ community, which she is proudly a part of as a lesbian woman. She hopes to continue countering the stigma surrounding women as strong fighters in the traditionally male-dominated sport.
Much is expected of Petecio’s performance in the 2024 Paris Olympics. In the recent 2024 Boxam Elite Tournament in La Nucia, Spain, the Philippine national team returned with four gold medals—one from Petecio’s win against Taiwanese boxer Huang Hsiao-wen.
