Trilogies are part of boxing lore and to carve her own mark in Philippine boxing trilogy, Nesthy Petecio, the first ever Filipina to make an Olympic
boxing final, will have to win a trilogy of her own.
Petecio, who fought back after losing the first round to beat Irma Testa in the women’s featherweight semifinals, will meet 20-year-old Japanese Sena Irie
on Aug. 3 at 12:05 p.m.
Based on boxrec.com, Irie is 10-2, one of those wins came against Petecio and one of those losses was against Petecio too. When they first met on April 19, 2019, Irie was making her debut while Petecio was a grizzled veteran with a 47-18 record. But the Pinay ended up losing and was booted out in the first round of the ASBC Asian Confederation Boxing Championships.
That loss prevented her from earning a spot in Tokyo. Two years later, with the qualifiers cancelled, she would earn her spot by virtue of her ranking. (Check Rappler’s story on her earning an Olympic spot.)
Match No. 2 was on Oct. 10, 2019, and this time, Petecio got her revenge on her way to winning the world title.
Match No. 3 is on Tuesday, for the gold medal in Tokyo. It will just be the Irie’s 13th fight in her career, while it will be the 89th for Petecio, who is 64-22.
I needed to feel the agony of losing. It was heartbreaking, I just kept crying. It was my dream to be an Olympian.
Petecio to Rappler’s Ariel Ian Clarito on losing to Sena Irie in the Olympic qualifiers.
Check Ariel Clarito’s article on Petecio losing to Irie here.