Olympic silver medalist Nesthy Petecio led four Philippine boxers to golds medals at the Boxam Elite Tournament in Alicante, Spain over the weekend.
Petecio, who won an Olympic silver in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, defeated Hsiao Wen Huang of Chinese Taipei in the Finals to emerge victorious in the women’s featherweight-57 kg division.
Rogen Ladon, Aira Villegas, and Hergie Bacyadan also topped their respective weight divisions to contribute to the Philippines’ smashing performance.
Ladon, who competed in the 2016 Rio Games, defeated Istvan Szaka of Hungary to clinch the gold in the championship round of the men’s flyweight-51 kg division.
On the other hand, the 28-year-old Villegas displayed her mastery of the women’s light flyweight-50 kg division as she toppled Kyzaibay Nazym of Kazakhstan in the Finals.
Also coming out on top of their division was Bacyadan, who competed in the women’s middleweight-75 kg, as she defeated Yerzhan Gulsaya of Kazakhstan.
While the Spain tilt is not a part of the 2 Olympic qualifying tournaments this year, the Filipinos’ victory in the tournament is aligned with their training as they continue to ramp up their preparations for the 2024 Paris Games.
Up next for them are the OQTs in Busto Arsizio, Italy (February 29 – March 12) and in Bangkok, Thailand (May 23 – June 3).
