TOKYO - At 5-foot-2, Nesthy Petecio was dwarfed by the life-size images of sumo wrestling greats that adorn the walls of Kokugikan Arena, a popular venue for sumo tournaments that now hosts the Olympic boxing competition.
But after four victories including a pair against opponents a full head taller than her, Petecio stood tall as she marched to the featherweight finals, within reach of the country's first-ever Olympic gold medal in the sport.
"Sobrang saya ko po na makakapasok ako sa gold medal round," said Petecio after a come-from-behind victory over Italian Irma Testa on Sunday made her only the third Filipino boxer to get as far as the finals in Olympic boxing.
As it is, the 29-year old is assured of a silver medal and millions in incentives both from the government and private sector - quite a leap for someone who only got encouraged to pick up boxing after she beat up a trash-talking boy at age 11 in a 'Boxing in the Park' bout, to the delight of her sports-loving dad.
But a special place in history awaits her if she gets by in the finals against home hope Sena Irie on Tuesday - the final bout in a nine-fight morning program that also includes Carlo Paalam's flyweight quarterfinal against reigning Olympic champion Shakobhidin Zoirov of Uzbekistan.
The two Filipino boxers to reach the finals before her - Anthony Villanueve in the 1964 Games, also in Tokyo, and Mansueto 'Onyok' Velasco at the 1992 Atlanta Games - fell short of the gold, and both in controversial fashion.
No hometown decision
To avoid the same fate, Petecio must overcome 20-year old Irie who has steamrolled through a relatively lighter half of the draw before pulling through with a thrilling 3-2 victory over Briton Karriss Artingstall in the semifinals.
One thing going for Petecio is that she won't have to deal with a home crowd that would've been backing Irie since fans both local and foreign are barred from the events in the first Olympic Games to be staged amid a pandemic.
Insiders have also eased concerns over a hometown decision, saying the Olympic boxing tournament is being fairly run by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in lieu of the disgraced Aiba leadership.
All things equal, Petecio is the favorite to win the gold, which will open the key to millions of incentives like what her friend Hidilyn Diaz has received after her historic gold medal in weightlifting.
That, however, is not on Petecio's mind. Instead her biggest motivationis her desire to honor her dad and a close friend and national teammate who died just months before her departure for Tokyo.
"Pangarap po ng tatay ko na makapasok sa national team. Kaya, hayun po, nagawa ko step-by-step. Sa kanya, gusto n’ya lang akong makatuntong sa Olympics, sa akin, pangarap kong magka-medal po," she said.
Turning her attention to her late friend, Petecio added: "Before po nawala si Alexander, nag-message s’ya sa akin, ‘Gusto kong makalaro ka sa Olympics, alam kong kaya mo ‘yan. Mananalo ka.’"
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