Filipina boxer Aira Villegas has officially secured the Philippines’ third medal at the Paris Olympics 2024 by winning bronze in the women’s 50-kilogram boxing event.
Villegas gave her best but lost to Türkiye’s Buse Naz Cakiroglu in the semifinals of the competition early Wednesday, with the judges’ unanimous decision favoring Cakiroglu, a silver medallist at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
The Turkish boxer dominated the bout’s first round, but Villegas was able to knock her down with some powerful punches in Round 2. However, the third and final round eventually showed Cakiroglu’s superiority in the weight class, thus ending Villegas’ historic Olympics 2024 journey and assuring her the match for the gold against Chinese pugilist Wu Yu this Saturday.
The Philippines’ hope for a gold medal in boxing now lies in the hands of Nesthy Petecio, who is set to face Julia Szeremeta of Poland on Thursday.
