Boxing: Youthful Petecio upsets veteran Aparri in box-off

Young and promising Nesthy Petecio upset veteran Alice Kate Aparri in their box-off Saturday, to earn a shot as the country's lone woman boxing hope in the 2012 London Olympics. The 20-year-old Davao City native landed the more solid blows against her fancied foe, winning their intense, four-round flyweight match before the sweltering afternoon heat inside the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (ABAP) gym at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex. She won by score of 24-17.5 behind the accumulative average submitted by the referees and judges (40 percent), coaches (30 percent), and members of the media (30 percent). Petecio, based on the referees and judges alone, won by a score of 8-5. "Nesthy obviously had more snap on her punches," said ABAP executive director Ed Picson. "We have a very good chance (with Nesthy)." Petecio, Aparri, and Josie Gabuco will now represent the country to the AIBA Women's World Championships in Qinhuangdao, China, which serves as the qualifier to the London Games. Nesthy, however, is the only Filipina qualified to vie for an Olympic slot as only weight categories at 51 kg (flyweight), 60 kg (lightweight), and 75 kg (middleweight), will be disputed when women's boxing makes its debut in the 2012 Summer Games. Petecio, fighting out of the blue corner, said she was surprised by the outcome, considering Aparri's huge experience inside the ring and the trouble she encountered trying to lose the excess weight hours before the box-off. Petecio, a bronze medalist in the last Asian Women's Boxing Championships in Mongolia, said she only learned about the box-off only last Monday, prompting her to quickly lose weigh from 57 kg to 52.9 kg., three hours before Saturday's match. Petecio, after hours of running and doing jumping rope exercises, lost another kilo prior to climbing the ring. "Kaya nga pag-dating pa lang ng second round, nanginginig na 'yung tuhod ko," said the bubbly boxer. In as much as she respects the 27-year-old Aparri, bronze medalist in the AIBA World Championships and three-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist, Petecio threw everything out when the two of them finally came face-to-face. "Magkaibigan naman po kami sa labas ng ring, pero sabi nga ng mga coaches namin, kapag nasa lona na kayo wala ka ng dapat isipin kundi patayin 'yung kalaban mo. Dahil pag hindi, ikaw ang siguradong papatayin niya," said Petecio, who hugged Aparri shortly after the fight. Petecio hopes to be the second Filipino boxer to get an Olympic berth after light-flyweight Mark Anthony Barriga. — JVP, GMA News