TOKYO. – Two days after Hidilyn Diaz’s gold medal conquest in the Olympics here, Nesthy Petecio gets her turn to grab the spotlight when she battles Colombian Yeni Marcela Arias Castaneda in the quarterfinals of the featherweight boxing competitions Wednesday at the Kokugikan Arena.
Petecio, the featherweight champion of the 2019 World Boxing Championships, shoots for at least a bronze medal at 10 a.m. (Philippine time) against the bronze medalist in the 2019 Pan American Games. If Petecio wins, she only needs to win two more to bag the gold.
“We will look at the videos of her (Castaneda) fights here,” said Petecio’s Australian coach, Don Abnett. “We know her next opponent will be tough, but we’re very confident.”
Last Monday, Petecio removed the biggest stumbling block in her road to glory by beating tournament topseed and world No. 1 Lin Yu-Ting of Chinese-Taipei via a 3-2 decision.
Before that big win, Petecio scored a dominant 5-0 mauling of Congo’s Marcelat Sakobi Matshu in her first bout.
“I want to win the gold medal for my country, but I know that I will have to work hard for it,” Petecio said in Filipino after her win over Lin.
On Thursday, Eumir Felix Marcial, expected by the Association Press to win a gold medal here, debuts against Younes Nemouchi of Algeria in the 69-76kg division at 10:48 a.m. (Philippine time), while Irish Magno, fresh from her 5-0 demolition of Kenyan Christine Ongarein the 48-51kg class, takes on Thailand’s Jutamas Jitpong at 12:24 p.m. (Philippine time).
Carlo Paalam, after posting a 4-1 win over Ireland’s Brendan Irvine on Monday, fights Algeria’s Mohamed Flissi on Saturday at 10:48 a.m. (Philippine time).
