Norlan Petecio carried more than the Philippine flag into his first Asian Games boxing bout Monday, September 21, 2026. He also carried a family name built through years of sacrifice, setbacks and Olympic success.
The 24-year-old Petecio opened his Asiad campaign with a unanimous-decision victory over Cambodia’s Vy Sophors in the men’s 70-kilogram preliminaries at Nishio Gymnasium, giving the Philippines an early win in boxing.
Petecio used his height and reach to keep Sophors at bay, moving around the ring and attacking the body whenever the Cambodian boxer tried to close the distance.
All five judges scored the first two rounds for Petecio. Sophors, who entered the bout with a 2-0 professional record, increased his pressure in the third round, but only one judge gave him the round.
The victory marked Petecio’s first Asian Games appearance and first Asiad win, moving him two victories away from the semifinals and a guaranteed medal.
“Medyo nakakapagod kasi first fight po. Masanay din sa next fight (It was a bit tiring because it was my first fight. I’ll get more accustomed to it in the next fight),” Petecio said in an interview with Cignal, the official broadcaster of the 20th Asian Games, via One Sports.
He said he grew more confident as the bout progressed while staying alert to Sophors’ punches.
“Kumpyansa ako. Gipilit suntok na di tatama (I was confident. I made sure his punches would not land),” he said.
Petecio also said he remained mindful of punches that could catch him off guard.
“Aware ako sa mga suntok niya na labas lang, hindi proper suntok, baka matamaan ako (I was aware of his punches coming from outside and not being proper punches because I could get hit),” he said.
Carrying the Petecio name
Norlan now follows the Asian Games path of his older sister, Davao City-born two-time Olympic medalist Nesthy Petecio, who will also compete for the Philippines in Nagoya.
The Petecio siblings come from a family that knows what it means to fight for a better life.
In an earlier interview with SunStar Davao, Nesthy recalled how she and her siblings collected scrap metal and sold yema to help provide school allowances and food for the family. Their father, Teodoro, worked collecting chicken dung, while their mother helped despite being pregnant.
Nesthy eventually turned boxing into a way of helping lift her family from poverty.
“Taga dula nako, taga sumbag, para jud sa akong pamilya. Family first (Every time I fight, every punch is for my family. Family first),” Nesthy said in that interview.
Her own Olympic dream began with their father. She eventually fulfilled that dream, winning Olympic silver at Tokyo 2020 and bronze at Paris 2024.
Her road, however, included disappointment. Nesthy suffered a controversial Round of 16 loss at the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia, a setback that nearly pushed her to quit boxing.
Years later, Norlan has his own chance to write a different Asian Games chapter for the Petecio family.
More to prove
Norlan knows the competition will only get tougher.
“Sobrang laki na po kasi Asian Games, day first time ko pa po nanalo sa first fight. Marami pang i-improve, lalo na kalaban namin dito mga Olympians po at world-ranked na boxers (The Asian Games are a big event, and this is my first time winning my first fight here. I still have a lot to improve, especially because we are facing Olympians and world-ranked boxers),” he said.
The win keeps him in contention for a medal, but Norlan is not looking too far ahead.
For now, he has one victory in his first Asiad and another fight ahead.
He also made sure to acknowledge those who helped him reach Nagoya.
“Thank you po sa mga Pilipino na sumusuporta sa amin, na nagtitiwala sa amin, kasamahan ko po at sa mga pamilya ko po (Thank you to the Filipinos who support us and believe in us, as well as my teammates and my family),” he said.
Five other Filipino boxers are also set to compete, including Nesthy, Aira Villegas, Carlo Paalam, Riza Pasuit and Junmilardo Ogayre.
Nesthy, Villegas and Paalam are Olympic medalists and among the Philippines’ leading boxing contenders.
At the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, Eumir Marcial won the Philippines’ lone boxing medal, a silver.
