Nesthy Petecio rallied for a thrilling 4-1 split decision over Irma Testa of Italy in their women's featherweight semifinal bout at the Kokugikan Arena in Tokyo, Japan. The scores were 29-28 four times for Petecio and 29-28 once for Testa.
Petecio had to overcome a shutout on the judges' scorecards in the opening round and boxed brilliantly in the final two rounds to book her ticket to the gold medal match, where she hopes to become the Philippines' second gold medalist after weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz.
Opening in a southpaw stance, Petecio had trouble overcoming testa's six-inch height advantage, with the Italian using her long reach to keep the Filipina at bay. The referee had to warn both fighters for lack of action in the opening minute of the first round as neither seemed eager to engage. Eventually the judges rewarded Testa for her aggression in the later moments as all of them gave the 23-year-old Rio Olympian similar 10-9 scores.
"In the first round, I tried the strategy my coaches devised," Petecio told ESPN5's Paolo Del Rosario. "But she was ready for it. So in the second round, we changed plans."
The tactic worked. Petecio came out more aggressive in the second round and attacked Testa's body repeatedly, and the Italian had to resort to holding tactics to avoid Petecio's onslaught. All judges gave Petecio the second round to square things up and set up a winner-take all third round.
With a slot in the final at stake, Petecio continued her attack on the body, to which Testa had no answer but to keep on holding and grabbing her opponent. Referee Beau Campbell warned the Italian several times to cut it out and just box, but it didn't make a difference as Petecio masterfully controlled the ring and had Testa on her heels for most of the round.
When the verdict was announced, a 4-1 split decision for Petecio, the Davao native let out a scream, dropped to her knees and began sobbing in joy. Her victory assures the Philippines of its first silver medal in boxing since 1992, and guarantees her at least P17 million in incentives.
Petecio will go for the gold against familiar foe Sena Irie of Japan on August 3 at 12:05 p.m. Irie was a 3-2 winner over Kariss Artingstall of Great Britain in their semifinal bout. Petecio and Irie split their previous two encounters, with the Filipina winning 4-1 in the 2019 AIBA World Championship en route to a gold medal and the Japanese returning the favor via a similar score in last year's Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Jordan.