FILIPINO Olympic boxers Nesthy Petecio and Carlo Paalam look to secure podium finishes in their respective divisions at the 20th Asian Games in Japan on Monday.
Petecio guns for a semifinal berth and at least a bronze medal as she faces Chinese Yang Chengyu in the women's 60-kg quarterfinals at the Nishio Gymnasium.
The Olympic silver and bronze medalist takes on Yang at 4:30 p.m. in Manila.
Meanwhile, Olympic silver medalist Paalam likewise aims to secure a bronze in the men's 55-kg division quarterfinals at the same venue.
Paalam battles Chinese Zhang Jiamao at 5:15 p.m.
Eventual losing semifinalists in boxing will no longer figure in a battle for third matches and will be awarded with bronze medals right away, instead.
Petecio booked her quarterfinal ticket after scoring an RSC (referee stops contest) win against Jordanian Mays Alreem Abukhadijah in the first round (round of 16) last Saturday.
The 34-year-old unleashed a right hook at the 1:51 mark of the second round that shook Abukhadijah, as the referee deemed it a knockdown and ruled the latter unfit to continue after the count.
If Petecio beats Yang, she will face either Tajik Mijgona Samadova or Indian Priya.
On the other hand, Paalam scored a majority decision win over Jadumani Singh Mandengbam in their round of 16 clash last Saturday.
“We’ll just do our best. In every fight, at least we have no regrets once we step into the ring because we really sacrifice everything for the win,” Paalam said in Filipino to POC Media.
“Please don’t bash us because the fights here are extremely difficult. Support us, don’t bash us, because just by carrying our names here, we are already carrying the Philippines. We’re not just carrying our family names, we’re carrying our country.”
If Paalam gets past Zhang, he will face either Kazakh Makhmud Sabyrkhan or South Korean Shin Jaeyong in the semifinals.
