Metro Manila, Philippines — Filipino boxer Nesthy Petecio secured a quarterfinal ticket after beating French opponent Amina Zidani in the women’s 57-kilogram division at the Paris 2024 Olympics early Saturday morning, Aug. 3 (Manila time).
Petecio let out a triumphant shout after defeating Zidani, a six-time French national champion, via majority decision in the Round of 16, silencing the North Paris Arena crowd.
Petecio was still finding her pace in the first round, only getting the nod of two out of five judges.
But in the second round, her punches began connecting that pressured the 30-year-old hometown bet.
Petecio, at the 1:44 mark, landed a right hook to put Zidani off-balance and touch the floor. There was no referee count.
The two fighters had strong exchanges in the third round with both of them raising their fists after the bout.
Scorecards showed four judges were in favor of the 32-year-old Petecio, 30-27, 29-28, 29-28, and 29-28, while another judge scored 29-28 for Zidani. The No. 3 seed French boxer: stunned.
The Tokyo Olympiad silver medalist is assured of another Olympic medal if she wins against China’s Xu Zichun on Sunday, Aug. 4, at 9:30 p.m.
Filipino boxers Carlo Paalam and Aira Villegas remain medal hopefuls.
