Filipina boxer Nesthy Petecio was surprised to have lost by unanimous decision against Japanese athlete, Irie Sena, at the final of the women’s featherweight division in the Tokyo Olympics.
After losing the opening round, Petecio tried to battle her way to a win in the second and third round but was defeated by the Japanese athlete. Irie won the match via unanimous decision, 5-0, much to the surprise of Petecio.
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This is the third time that Petecio lost to the Japanese fighter. Earlier she also lost to Irie in the quarterfinals of the Asia-Oceania qualifiers in March 2020, which kept her from securing her spot in the Tokyo Olympics.
She eventually qualified on the basis of her rankings and won her first four matches — including a split decision over the top-seeded Lin Yu-Ting in the round-of-16 — before her defeat in the gold medal match.
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Earlier Petecio won the silver medal at Tokyo Olympics, which was the Philippines’ first Olympic medal in boxing since 1996 when Mansueto “Onyok” Velasco won a medal in Atlanta. (AW)
