Aira Villegas of the Philippines celebrated her 29th birthday in style, securing a ticket to the quarterfinals with a unanimous decision victory over Algeria's Roumaysa Boulam in their women's 50 kg Round of 16 match at the Paris 2024 Olympics held at the North Paris Arena early Friday morning, August 2, Philippine time, which was still August 1 in Paris.
Villegas, hailing from Tacloban City, dominated the first round, but the second round was a split, motivating her to give her all in the final round to ensure victory.
(It's better to be focused, it's really hard to be complacent, because a lot can happen in every second of the match)," Villegas said in a Frontline/News5 aired via YouTube after the match.
The five judges from Argentina, Estonia, Canada, Germany, and Bulgaria scored the bout in her favor with the following scores: 30-27, 29-28, 29-28, 29-28, and 30-27.
She dedicated her win to her coaches and teammates, Eumir Marcial and Hergie Bacyadan, who exited the competition earlier with their first-bout losses.
Villegas said, "Kailangang ipanalo to di lang para sa akin at syempere para din sa mga kasamahan ko (It has to be won not only for me but also for my teammates)."
In Round of 32, she also triumphed over Yasmine Mouttaki of Morocco with a unanimous decision win.
Villegas will face France's Wassila Lkhadiri in the quarterfinals on Sunday, August 4. Lkhadiri advanced by defeating Ireland's Daina Moorehouse with a 4-1 victory in their Round of 32 clash.
Apart from Villegas, two other Filipino boxers still in contention are Tokyo Olympics silver medalists Nesthy Petecio and Carlo Paalam. MLSA