Nesthy Petecio

In this Philippine name, the middle name or maternal family name is Alcayde and the surname or paternal family name is Petecio.

Nesthy Alcayde Petecio (born April 11, 1992)^[1] is a Filipino amateur boxer. She won a silver medal in the inaugural women's featherweight event at the 2020 Summer Olympics, becoming the first Filipino woman to win an Olympic medal in boxing.^[2] She also won a silver medal at the 2014 World Championships and gold at the 2019 edition.^[3]

Nesthy Petecio
Petecio in 2019
Statistics
Weight class	Featherweight
Height	1.58 m (5 ft 2 in)^[1]
Nationality	Filipino
Born	(1992-04-11) April 11, 1992 (age 31) Santa Cruz, Davao del Sur, Philippines
Medal record Women's boxing Representing the  Philippines Event 1st 2nd 3rd Summer Olympic Games 0 1 0 World Championships 1 1 0 Asian Championships 0 1 2 Southeast Asian Games 2 3 1 Total 3 6 3 Olympic Games 2020 Tokyo Featherweight World Championships 2019 Ulan-Ude Featherweight 2014 Jeju City Featherweight Asian Championships 2015 Wulanchabu Bantamweight 2012 Ulaanbaatar Bantamweight 2022 Amman Featherweight Southeast Asian Games 2019 Philippines Featherweight 2023 Cambodia Featherweight 2011 Jakarta Bantamweight 2013 Napyidaw Featherweight 2015 Singapore Featherweight 2021 Vietnam Lightweight

Early life and education

Nesthy Petecio was born in Santa Cruz, Davao del Sur to parents Teodoro and Prescilla Petecio.^[4][5] Petecio came from a poor family; her father was a farmer while her mother is a housewife. At a young age, Nesthy and her siblings had to aid their parents in the farm to earn a living. She recalled selling manure as fertilizer just to earn money.^[6][7] According to Petecio, boxing paved way for her to be able to attend college in Rizal Technological University in spite of financial problems and considers it her "way out of poverty."^[7]

Amateur career

Early years

Nesthy Petecio and her siblings were taught boxing as a means of self-defense. Petecio and her siblings went on to join inter-barangay boxing competitions to help their family financially.^[5][8]

Petecio had a big break in her boxing career at age 11, when she joined a boxing match at the Araw ng Davao in Rizal Park, Davao City. Although competitions were usually arranged by gender, Petecio's opponent was male with a bigger build and more experience than herself. However she was able to win the match, which drew the attention of Celestino Rebamonte who in turn endorsed her to the Philippine women's team coach Roel Velasco.^[8] She was then able to compete at the 2007 Smart National Youth and Women’s Open Boxing Championships in Cagayan de Oro where she won gold. As a result she earned her a berth in the national boxing team.^[7]

National team

Representing the Philippines, Petecio went on to compete in several international competitions. She clinched silver medals at the 2014 AIBA Women's World Championships and the 2011 and 2013 Southeast Asian Games; a bronze medal in the 2012 Asian Championships; and a gold medal in the 2015 Indonesia President’s Cup^[7]

She would also compete in the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, the 2015 and 2017 Asian Championships but fail to make a podium finish. She also failed to qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.^[9] Failing to medal at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia and dealing with the aftermath of ending a relationship with a girlfriend, Petecio experienced a bout of depression.^[8]

After a break, Petecio made a comeback by winning a gold at the 2019 Thailand Open International Boxing Championship.^[8] At the 2019 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships in Ulan-Ude, Petecio won gold in the featherweight division after defeating hometown bet Liudmila Vorontsova in the final.^[10] She ended the year with another gold medal, this time at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games. It was a sweet victory for Petecio after failing to bring home the top prize in the biennial meet in her three previous attempts.

Petecio was able to qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan due to her high ranking, after the world qualifiers was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[11] Competing in the women's featherweight event, Petecio's first fight was a 5:0 victory against Marcelat Sakobi Matshu of the Democratic Republic of Congo.^[12] In her next bout Petecio defeated Lin Yu-ting of Chinese Taipei (3:2) to advance to the quarterfinals,^[13] where she defeated Yeni Arias of Columbia (5:0) to secure at least a bronze medal and become the first woman to win a medal in Olympic boxing.^[14][15] She then defeated Irma Testa of Italy (4:1) in the semifinals to secure her place in the gold medal bout.^[16] Facing her amateur rival Sena Irie in the final, Petecio lost by unanimous decision (0:5) to take home the silver medal, the first Olympic boxing medal won by a Filipino boxer in 25 years.^[17][18]

Results

 

Petecio on a 2021 stamp of the Philippines

2015 World Championships results

• Defeated Manel Meharzi (Algeria) PTS (3–0)
• Defeated Maryna Malovana (Ukraine) PTS (3–0)
• Defeated Lu Qiong (China) PTS (3–0)
• Defeated Tiara Brown (United States) PTS (3–0)
• Lost to Zinaida Dobrynina (Russia) PTS (0–2)

2014 Asian Games results

• Defeated Gulzhaina Ubbiniyazova (Kazakhstan) PTS (3–0)
• Loss to Yin Junhua (China) PTS (0–3)

2019 World Championships results

• Defeated Jucielen Romeu (Brazil) PTS (3–2)
• Defeated Stanimira Petrova (Bulgaria) PTS (3–2)
• Defeated Qiao Jieru (China) PTS (3–2)
• Defeated Sena Irie (Japan) PTS (4–1)
• Defeated Karriss Artingstall (England) PTS (4–1)
• Defeated Liudmila Vorontsova (Russia) PTS (3–2)

2020 Summer Olympics results

• Defeated Marcelat Sakobi Matshu (Congo) PTS (5–0)
• Defeated Lin Yu-ting (Chinese-Taipei) PTS (3–2)
• Defeated Yeni Arias (Colombia) PTS (5–0)
• Defeated Irma Testa (Italy) PTS (4–1)
• Loss to Sena Irie (Japan) PTS (5–0)

Personal life

Nesthy Petecio openly identifies as a lesbian. She dedicated her Olympic silver medal to the LGBTQ community.^[19]

In popular media

In 2021, Petecio made a virtual appearance in Pinoy Big Brother: Kumunity Season 10 when she gave a message to the Celebrity housemates, and declaring the Pinoy Big Brother Games 2021 open.^[20]

References

1. . Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Archived from the original on July 15, 2021. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
2. Giongco, Mark (August 3, 2021). "Nesthy Petecio takes home Olympic silver in boxing". Inquirer. Retrieved August 3, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
3. Songalia, Ryan (October 13, 2019). "Nesthy Petecio rebounds from college slump, wins gold at World Championships". The Ring. Retrieved August 3, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
4. Saberon-Abalayan, Marianne (July 16, 2021). "Petecio excited". Sunstar. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
5. Canoy, Jeff (July 28, 2021). "WATCH: Petecio family celebrates Nesthy's winning moment". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved July 30, 2021.
6. "For Filipina fighter Nesthy Petecio, boxing is her way out of poverty". GMA News Online. July 27, 2021. Retrieved July 30, 2021.
7. Olivares, Rick (March 30, 2016). "Nesthy Petecio holds her head high despite Olympic Qualifying loss". Rappler. Retrieved July 30, 2021.
8. Grana, Rhia (July 29, 2021). "The painful loss that broke Nesthy Petecio, and how she found her way back punching". ANCX. ABS-CBN. Retrieved July 30, 2021.
9. "Davao del Sur's Petecio is AIBA Women's World Boxing champ". MindaNews. October 14, 2019. Retrieved July 30, 2021.
10. Villar, Joey (October 14, 2019). "Petecio rules the world, too". Philippine Star. Retrieved October 14, 2019.
11. Giongco, Mark (April 14, 2021). "Olympic qualification dream come true for Petecio". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved July 30, 2021.
12. Masoy, Niel Victor C. (July 26, 2021). "Petecio eyes quarterfinals as Paalam debuts". The Manila Times. Retrieved August 7, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
13. Pamintuan, Carlo (July 26, 2021). "Petecio takes down top-seed to stay in medal hunt". ESPN. Retrieved August 7, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
14. Giongco, Mark (July 28, 2021). "Nesthy Petecio assured of Olympics bronze, ousts Colombian foe". Inquirer.net. Retrieved August 7, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
15. "Olympic women's boxing is bigger, deeper in Tokyo". The Manila Times. July 31, 2021. Retrieved August 7, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
16. Ventura, Sid (July 31, 2021). "Nesthy Petecio takes split decision, advances to gold medal match". ESPN. Retrieved August 7, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
17. Songalia, Ryan (August 2, 2021). "Sena Irie outpoints Nesthy Petecio, wins inaugural women's featherweight Olympic gold". The Ring. Retrieved August 7, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
18. "Boxer Nesthy Petecio bags silver for PH in women's featherweight". cnn. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
19. Spocchia, Gino (August 6, 2021). "Lesbian Filipino boxer dedicates silver medal to LGBT+ community". The Independent. Archived from the original on June 18, 2022. Retrieved August 7, 2021.
20. PBB Updates | Mensahe ni Olympic Silver Medalist Nesthy Petecio sa mga kalahok sa PBB Games 2021. Pinoy Big Brother. November 16, 2021. from the original on November 19, 2021. Retrieved December 21, 2021 – via YouTube.