PAUL Julyfer Bascon and Aira Villegas won their opening bouts but Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Nesthy Petecio suffered a stunning loss early yesterday morning (Monday night in Europe) at the start of the 74th Strandja Cup at the Arena Sofia in Bulgaria.
A native of Davao del Norte, Bascon outclassed hometown bet Tinko Banabakov 4-1 in their first-round lightweight clash while Villegas won by unanimous decision (5-0) over Argentine Milagros Tatiana Flore in the women’s light flyweight class.
Their victories offset somewhat the impact of the early exit of Petecio, who absorbed a 1-4 beating at the hands of Poland’s Sandra Kruk in the featherweight division.
Joining Petecio on the sidelines of Europe’s oldest amateur boxing tournament that drew 398 boxers from 38 countries were Cleo Tesara and Maricel dela Torre.
Tesara lost 0-5 to India’s Srinisavan Kailavani in their minimumweight battle while Dela Torre fell to Poland’s Sandra Drabik 0-5 in their bantamweight clash.
Scheduled to see action last night were three more Pinoy boxers, led by Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Carlo Paalam, who was ranged against Turkish Mussafer Enver in the men’s bantamweight division.
Featherweight Junmilardo Ogayre was to battle Frenchman Riad Labidi while light welterweight James Palicte, a 2019 Southeast Asian Games gold medalist, was to meet German Assan Hansen.
