Norlan, not Nesthy, gives Philippines boxing rousing start

NAGOYA –A Petecio not named Nesthy got Team Philippines off to a blazing start.

Norlan Petecio, younger brother of two-time Olympic medalist Nesthy, showed up and showed out in his Asian Games debut, hammering Cambodia’s Sophors Vy for a unanimous decision in the men’s 70kg at the Nishio Gym in Nishio City, Aichi Prefecture here yesterday.

Fighting with poise beyond his Asiad experience, Petecio made good use of his edge in height, reach and ring smarts, picking apart his Cambodian foe from a distance to sweep the scorecards of Martin Zajac of Slovakia, Saleh Abalkhail of Saudi Arabia, Moushine Souilmi of Mauritius, Mohammad Alkasbeh of Jordan and Edward Blanchard of Canada.

Already up after two rounds, the 24-year-old Davao native still stood his ground in a fiery exchange early in the third, where he got tagged and yielded a point in an otherwise spotless outing.

It was just the tonic for the Filipino boxing team after the sad development of Eumir Marcial not being flown in from California.

Now in his second major international stint after a silver-medal finish in the 2025 Bangkok SEA Games, the younger Petecio set the tone for the squad.

Paris Olympics bronze winner Aira Villegas takes over today, facing India’s Sashi in the women’s 51kg.

Junmilardo Ogayre goes up against Mongolia’s Lundaa Gantumur in the men’s 60kg tomorrow, before big sister Nesthy opens her own campaign against Jordan’s Mays Alreem Abukhadijah in the women’s 60kg on Saturday.

Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Carlo Paalam drew a first-round bye.