TOKYO - From one room in the Athletes Village, Nesthy Petecio and fellow Zamboangueno boxer Eumir Marcial cheered wildly as Hidilyn Diaz made history as the first-ever Olympic gold medalist from the Philippines.
Two days later, Petecio punched her way to a place in history.
The 29-year old stands as the first woman boxer from the Philippines to land an Olympic medal after dominating Colombia's Arias Castaneda, 5-0, in an entertaining but one-sided featherweight fight at the Kokukigan Arena on Wednesday.
Petecio said she drew so much inspiration from watching Hidilyn beat a tough field led by Chinese world champion and record-holder Liao Qiuyun in clinching the gold medal in the 55-kilogram division in weightlifting.
"Sobrang na-inspire po ako kay Hidilyn. Hinintay ko po talaga na matapos ‘yung laban n’ya," said the pride of Davao del Sur. "Sobrang saya po namin, sobrang proud kami kay Hidilyn. Jump high po!"
Petecio didn't do too badly herself when it was her turn to make history before a small contingent of Filipino supporters that included PSC chairman Butch Ramirez and POC president Rep. Bambol Tolentino.
The world No. 7 had lost to Castaneda in their last face-off in New Delhi years ago, but she turned the tables this time by executing to the letter a game plan put together by coaches Don Abnett and Boy Velasco.
“We watched the Colombian the other day and she was very aggressive so the plan was to try and counter-punch, but she changed her plan today and stood there just waiting for Nesthy," said Abnett, the Philippine team's Aussie coach.
“In the second round they were too close, they were wrestling. We told Nesthy not to turn the fight into a scrap but to pick her punches as she has the talent to do that," he added.
“Nesthy is the better boxer but if you try and scrap with a scrapper, usually good boxers don’t win against scrappers. You fight to your strengths, not their strengths.”
Petecio did exactly that, keeping her distance against the Colombian and picking her spots to land clean head shots. She also got the exchanges in the few times that she allowed herself to get too close to Castaneda.
The result was a 5-0 victory that never looked in doubt from the first round.
Ang kinaibahan po ngayon, gumalaw po ako nang gumalaw. Isa, dalawa, alis," said Petecio. "Ang sabi ng coaches, huwag daw akong makipag-dikitan sa kanya nang sobra-sobra kasi comfort zone n’ya po ‘yun.
"Alis po talaga ako kahit pagod na. Stick to the plan pa rin po at sa kung ano pong sasabihin ng mga coaches ko, kasi sila po ‘yung pinapatingin ko sa laro ko, ano yung ipapagawa nila sa amin, sa akin sa training po."
On the verge of history
Petecio now stands one win from the finals and two from a gold medal, and has a few days to train and recalibrate for her semifinal against Italian Irma Testa, who at No. 5 in the world is two rungs higher in the rankings compared to the Filipino.
The Italian also stands a full head taller than Petecio at 5-8. Petecio is unfazed, but at the same time she knows she can't make any mistakes that she'll end up regretting, now that she's so close to achieving her dream.
"Isa-isa lang po muna at baka madapa po tayo," she said.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
