By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
This time, it was youth that edged experience in the sport of boxing.
Hopeful for another grand final appearance in her second straight Olympics campaign, Filipina boxing star Nesthy Petecio didn’t achieve the result she wanted after losing to the 20-year-old rising star from Poland, Julia Szeremeta, via a 4-1 split decision during their semifinal clash in the women’s featherweight division of the Paris Global Games on August 8, 2024.
Facing an opponent 12 years younger than her, Petecio got overwhelmed with Szeremeta’s footwork and hand speed that proved to be enough to stage an upset in the Paris Olympics medal round.
It was Petecio who looked confident in the first frame after scoring huge right and left hooks, tagging the Polish pug everytime they squared off and exchanged punches.
Despite the 1-2 approach that Petecio deployed, the move still paid off dividends as she landed the more efficient and heavier strikes to rake all scorecards in the first round.
Eager to bounce back and level the tally, the Polish challenger started to circle around the ring and got busy with her jabs but Petecio always had answers after scoring several counters using her snappy left straight.
However, the final 20 seconds of the round played a vital role for the judges after Szeremeta won their final exchange, connecting on three huge shots that helped her earn the nod of the four judges for a 4-1 second frame decision win.
It then boiled down in the final round with the scorecards leveled as Petecio began the tiebreaker with calculated aggression.
Unlike the previous rounds where the Polish was more active in pressing forward, it was Petecio this time who dictated the pace of the fight, stalking Szeremeta while throwing a barrage of haymakers.
Szeremeta then retaliated with snappy jabs followed by a lead right punch that kept on connecting to the head of Petecio.
With the third round looking close as both fighters threw a lot of punches and figured in wild exchanges, the judges finally submitted their decision and chose Szeremeta as the one who will advance to the gold medal match.
Petecio still wrapped up her Paris Olympics campaign on a high note after securing the bronze medal for the Philippine delegation. However, the Filipina failed to complete her revenge tour when she nabbed the silver medal during the past edition of the Olympics in Tokyo.
