Dabawenya Nesthy Petecio made a strong start to her Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games campaign, stopping Jordan’s Mays Alreem Abukhadijah in the second round of their women’s 60-kilogram bout Saturday, September 26, 2026, at the Nishio City General Gymnasium in Japan.
Referee Lukman Wekadapola halted the fight at the 1:51 mark of the second round after Petecio scored two knockdowns.
The Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympic medalist controlled the opening round and earned a 10-9 nod from the judges before turning up the pressure in the second.
Petecio dropped Abukhadijah twice with powerful combinations, prompting the referee to stop the contest and award the Filipina an RSC victory.
The win sent Petecio into the quarterfinals, joining fellow Tokyo silver medalist Carlo Paalam and Junmilardo Ogayre to give the Philippines three boxers in the last eight.
“Unang laban, Salamat, Lord. Three more to go. Maraming salamat sa lahat ng nagdasal at patuloy na sumusuporta sa akin at sa buong Team Philippines (First fight, thank you, Lord. Three more to go. Thank you very much to everyone who prayed and continues to support me and the entire Team Philippines),” Petecio said in a Facebook post.
“Sana patuloy n’yo pa rin akong suportahan sa mga susunod kong laban (I hope you will continue to support me in my next fights),” she said.
Paalam earlier booked his quarterfinal spot with a 3-0 split-decision win over Commonwealth Games silver medalist Jadumani Mandengbam of India.
“Good day today for us as two Olympic medalists Carlo (Paalam) and Nesthy joined (Junmilardo) Ogayre to make it three boxers in the quarterfinals,” Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (Abap) president Marcus Manalo said.
Manalo said the national team is now one victory away from securing podium finishes, putting added importance on the upcoming quarterfinal bouts.
Petecio will face China’s Chengyu Yang in the quarterfinals. Ogayre will take on Uzbekistan’s Abdumalik Khlakov in the men’s 60 kg class, while Paalam will meet China’s Jiaomao Zhang in the men’s 55 kg division. MLSA WITH POC MEDIA POOL PR