NESTHY Alcayde Petecio, whose amateur boxing career started in Davao City, defeated Thailand's Nilawan Techasuep to capture the gold medal of the women's featherweight (57 kilograms) division of the 2nd Thailand Open Boxing Championships held over the weekend at the National Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
The 26-year-old dominated her Thai opponent, 4-1, in the annual event that was formerly known as the King's Cup Thailand Open International Boxing Tournament.
The feat was Petecio's first after graduating recently at the University of Baguio this year.
"Happy kaayo ko, ma'am. Kay makaingon na jud ko totally naka move on na jud after atong Asian Games. Karun gi bless ko ni God. Og unta more blessing pa (I'm so happy to have moved on from the Asian Games. God is really blessing me now. Hoping for more blessings)," she said in a Facebook Messenger interview Sunday, July 28.
It can be recalled that Petecio absorbed a controversial 2-3 loss to Chinese Junhua Yin in their round of 16 women's 57-kilogram featherweight bout in the 8th Asian Games 2018 women's boxing competition in Indonesia.
She said it was the second time she encountered Nilawan Techasuep. The first was in Manado, Indonesia where she also subdued the Thai in their quarterfinals clash.
"Medyo kabisado na pud, ma'am. Pero tong una namo nagdula duha sya nakasugod sa akoa ato gud. Karun nagdistansya. First round ginakuha pa nako akoa timing niya kay kung magsulod ka nga diretso lang hulog-hulogan ka niya. Second round nakuha na nako iyaha dula sa tabang pud sa akoa mga coaches (I'm somehow familiar with her. When we first faced each other she was the first to attack. In the first round, I was still waiting for the right timing as she could easily counter. I finally got her rhythm in the second round with the help of my coaches)," the Tuban native of Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur said.
The former Aiba World Boxing Championships silver medalist Petecio was focused from the start, taking each bout at a time with the finals in her mind. She shocked Thailand’s Rio 2016 Olympian Peamwilai Laopeam in a tight semifinals bout.
Her coach Nolito Velasco, in a separate Messenger interview, said the veteran lady boxer trained hard for the competition.
"Focus naman (sya) sa training. Ang sabi ko mag-medal tayo dito kahit ano basta medal yan ang sabi ko sa kanya. Nag-gold pa (sya), ma'am," Velasco said.
Petecio received the Best Female Fighter award last March in the 19th Gabriel “Flash” Elorde Memorial Awards at Okada Manila Grand Ballroom for capturing the gold medal for the Philippines in the 1st Indian Open International Boxing Tournament held in February 2018.
Meanwhile, Ian Clark Bautista salvaged a bronze, the lone medal from seven male Filipino boxers entered in the tournament. (MLSA)