Despite having that time of the month during her international fight, Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Nesthy Petecio remained upbeat even after losing her chance to the quarterfinals against Venezuela’s Omailyn Alcala in the International Boxing Association (IBA) Women’s World Boxing Championships in New Delhi, India on March 21.
Petecio was the last Filipino boxer standing in the game when she lost in the 57-kilogram category with Alcala winning 4-3 in the judges’ scorecards.
Other Filipino boxers, Aira Villegas earlier suffered a 5-0 loss against Bulgaria’s Zlatislava Chukanova in the 48-50 kg light flyweight division while Riza Pasuit was the first casualty of the Philippine contingent after dropping her opening match in the 60 to 63- kg. light welterweight class.
Petecio has advanced to the round-of-16 after defeating Tianna Guy of Trinidad and Tobago in the round-of-32 preliminaries at the K.D. Jadhav Indoor Hall.
In her Facebook post, the University of Baguio scholar taking up Hotel and Restaurant Management in modular mode said she gave her best despite having menstruation on the day of the fight.
“Ngayon lang ako nakapaglaro na OK ang kilos at galaw kahit na may menstruation sa mismong araw ng laban. Share ko lang kasi natutuwa ako kaya proud ako sa sarili ko. Hirap na hirap ako lumaban before kapag meron talaga. Gusto kong mahiga, matulog na lang, ayaw gumalaw, at tinatamad,” Petecio said.
The former world champion and 2019 Southeast Asian Games gold medalist said she is thankful to get that far in the IBA women’s championship.
Netizens were quick to cheer up Petecio and thanked her for being an inspiration especially for women who understood what she went through – working hard in spite of having to deal with menstruation at work.
A video of her fight with the title: “IBA World Boxing Championship-Philippines”, can be viewed at Petecio’s YouTube channel. – Ofelia C. Empian
