THE ROAD to winning gold in the 2024 Summer Olympics ended for Aira Villegas and Nesthy Petecio after their respective losses in the Women’s 50kg and 57kg divisions.
Villegas conceded via unanimous decision to Tokyo silver medalist and Turkey representative Buse Naz Çakıroğlu, 0-5. Meanwhile, Petecio fell short of advancing to the finals after dropping a majority decision to Poland’s Julia Szeremeta, 1-4. The bouts were held on August 7 and 8, respectively, at the Roland-Garros Stadium in Paris, France.
Aira Villegas
Commencing her semifinal campaign for the Philippines, Villegas engaged in an action-packed battle against the heavy favorite Çakıroğlu in the Women’s 50kg division. With a consequential trip to the finals and a guaranteed silver on the line, both fighters fought aggressively from the beginning. However, Çakıroğlu’s power overwhelmed the Tacloban native, setting her back on the defensive end during the exchanges.
With 34 seconds left in the opening round, the referee threatened to stop the fight with a standing count after Villegas was stunned by Çakıroğlu’s three-punch combination. The overall damage inflicted by the Turkish boxer would give her the upper hand in the scorecards, with one judge even scoring the round a commanding 10-8 in her favor.
Continuing her dominant display of technique and power in round two, the Turkish standout found similar success in limiting the Filipina’s offense. Villegas found difficulty predicting and countering Çakıroğlu’s variety of punches, causing her to go down two rounds to none.
Despite a spirited drive to push forward in the third canto, Villegas fell flat in connecting her fight-altering punches, denied by the former silver medalist’s superior blocking techniques. The combined experience, power, and height advantage of Çakıroğlu proved to be overwhelming for Villegas, leading to the Turkish fighter’s 5-0 victory.
Amid her second career defeat to Çakıroğlu, Villegas remained positive about her chances of eventually beating the Turkish boxer. “In the near future, magkikita ulit kami. Sa susunod, kailangan ko talaga bumawi. Hindi pwede mag 3-0,” said Villegas who seeks to win gold in the 2028 Summer Olympics.
(This is not the end. In the near future, we’ll see each other again. I need to bounce back in our next fight. I cannot lose 3-0 against her.)
Nesthy Petecio
Coming off a unanimous victory over China in the quarterfinals, Petecio strove to move one step closer to fight for an Olympic gold against Poland’s Julia Szeremeta in the Women’s 57kg category.
The first round saw commanding control from the 5’2” Filipina, as fast jabs and precise footwork gave her the upper hand in the stanza. Further maintaining her poise and composure, Petecio earned the judges’ approval to set an early tone in the contest.
Looking to level the playing field, Szeremeta bounced back with a formidable showing in the second round, ramping up the pressure on Petecio and shifting the momentum in her favor. With the Polish equalizing the game, both fighters knew that a finals appearance was open for the taking in the final round.
The last three minutes proved to be a challenge for the tricolor athlete to surmount, as her Polish foe’s powerful shots and well-executed footwork threw off her tempo. Despite attempts to quickly seal the cracks, the Davao del Sur native was left struggling in the final minute, dropping a split decision against Szeremeta, 1-4.
Despite the match’s outcome, Petecio remained grateful for the experiences from her second Olympic run. “Akala ko akin ‘to this time, sobrang grabe yung tiwala ko sa sarili ko na makukuha ko siya. But yun nga, medyo hindi tayo [pinalad] ngayong gabi,” she expressed. “Sobrang thankful pa rin ako kay Lord kasi maganda iyong pinakita ko.”
(I thought that it would be mine this time, I really put a lot of faith in myself that I would get it. But maybe we just weren’t lucky tonight. I’m still very thankful to the Lord because I gave a good performance.)
Although the losses eliminated both Filipinas, Villegas and Petecio gracefully bowed out of the Paris Olympics as bronze medalists. The podium finish serves as Villegas’ first Olympic medal, while Petecio adds a second medal to her collection after winning silver in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Scorecards:
Villegas vs Çakıroğlu: 27-30, 26-30, 27-30, 27-30, 26-30
Petecio vs Szeremeta: 29-28, 28-29, 28-29, 28-29, 28-29
