Petecio reaches semis; Gabuco bows to Chinese

ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia – Nesthy Petecio continued to dish out fine form and battered North Korean Un Jong Choe with her power and speed, scoring a 12-5 victory to reach the semifinals of the sixth Asian Women’s Boxing Championships here Wednesday. 

The wily Korean tried to use one-upmanship to rattle the Filipina, but Petecio kept her cool and stayed with her game plan of quick punches to the head and body behind excellent footwork. She got the nod of all five judges in the four-round affair.

The dusky Davaoeña guns for a finals berth in the 54kg class against Kejia Luo of China on Saturday.

But while Petecio gained, teammate Josie Gabuco bowed to Yukie Luo in her first appearance in the 48 Kg light-flyweight category. The Puerto Princesa native engaged the Chinese fighter in several fierce exchanges but fell short of her bid and dropped a 10-16 decision.

The other member of the PLDT-ABAP team, flyweight Alice Kate Aparri sees action Thursday against Vietnam’s Tuyet Mai Nguyen Thi.

Aparri earlier disposed of Chinese-Taipei’s Meng-Shieh Pin while Tuyet won over Sri Lanka’s Anusha Dilrukshi Kodithuw in the first round of elims.

The winner of the match earns a slot to the semis. India’s Meri Kom and China’s Ren Cancan are the favored boxers in this 51 Kg class.