Pinay boxers crash out in Asian Cup

MANILA, Philippines - Nesthy Petecio and Alice Kate Aparri dropped a pair of numbing setbacks and bowed out of the first Asian Cup Women’s Boxing Tournament at the Haikou gymnasium in Haikou, China over the weekend.

The 19-year-old Petecio failed to bounce back from a sluggish first round performance and trailed all the way before absorbing a 7-10 loss to Kazakhstan’s Zhaina Shekerbekova.

Aparri, bronze medalist in the World Women’s Boxing Championships in Barbados last year, also succumbed to her former tormentor Mary Kom of India, 8-11, in one of the evening bouts in the event which features the top four ranked women boxers in various divisions in the region.

Winner of four world championships, Kom dominated the Filipina bet right from the start, 3-1, then withstood Aparri’s solid hooks and uppercuts in the succeeding rounds.

 The Baguio lass tried to rally in the fourth round but ran out of time and punches to yield the match to the Indian fighter, who also pounded Aparri, 8-1, in their faceoff in Barbados last year.

 Petecio fell behind, 0-2, after the opening round as the 21-year-old Kazakh wisely stayed away from the Filipina bet’s power shots while connecting with her own head shots to keep a 4-2 edge halfway through the match.