Nesthy Petecio Started Boxing to Support Her Family; Now She’s Bringing Home an Olympic Medal

She’ll be the first Filipina boxer with an Olympic medal

While the Philippines have had several male boxers bring home silver and bronze medals from the Olympics, Nesthy Petecio secured her title as the first Filipina boxer to win an Olympic medal after her event today. And in her first Olympics, no less.

She’s #2 in the world rankings and has won plenty of medals already

In the latest world ranking by boxing organization AIBA released last September 2020, Nesthy placed second in the 57-kg weight category.

This may be her first Olympics, but Nesthy has already been competing in international championships all over the world, including the President’s Cup, Asian Games, and Southeast Asian Games. In fact, in 2019, she won a gold medal at the AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships and another gold at the 30th SEA Games.

This helped in her qualification for the Tokyo Olympics. According to the International Olympic Committee Boxing Task Force, Nesthy advanced “by virtue of [her] highest standings in their respective weight categories.”

She was already boxing at age 7

Born in the Davao countryside, Nesthy, along with her younger siblings, learned boxing at the tender age of 7 from her farmer father. After entering different amateur matches, she caught the attention of the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines-Calinan boxing team, which allowed her to join national competitions. This led to her becoming a member of the national women’s boxing team at age 15.

When training, Nesthy shared how women boxers are made to spar with male boxers, with the thinking that they’d get used to stronger punches and aggression. But while this rationale seemed to make sense, there were more challenges for female boxers like Nesthy — primarily in the form of taunts for being a woman in boxing.

But Nesthy shrugged them off and just said, “Ang masasabi ko lang salamat. Salamat po sa pagdo-down sa aming mga kababaihan, kasi nagbibigay po kayo ng inspirasyon at lakas para sa amin para ipakita po sa inyo na kaya po naming mga babae.” And now she’s proving her strength on the world’s stage. You go girl!

Nesthy is getting her degree in Tourism at the University of Baguio, which is why you’ll see plenty of pics of her training in the Summer Capital.

She took up boxing due to financial needs

But Nesthy didn’t really start boxing as her dream. She actually joined the national boxing team mainly due to the fact that it gave her an opportunity to continue studying and help her family at the same time.

“Kaya ko po napili ang boxing, kasi po, sa tingin ko po, dito ko po matutulungan ko ang family ko, makakapag-aral ako ng libre. she said. “Marami pong opportunities dito sa boxing.”

But eventually, she shared that she learned to love the sport. She said she was able to persevere just because she loves boxing so much: “Kung mahal mo talaga yung sports na gusto mo, kung nasa puso mo talaga yung pagbo-boxing. Actually, masarap po, masaya po mag boxing eh. Maganda po sa pangangatawan, sa kalusugan niyo.”

She nearly stopped boxing

The Philippines was so close to losing this talented boxer. After her loss at the 2018 Asian Games, Nesthy said she actually wanted to quit boxing. “I really wanted to stop. I was going to look for a job. I was looking for other options. At that time, I was really feeling down. I was feeling depressed, I was stressed,” she shared.

It was her win at 2019 AIBA World Championships that changed her mind and helped her continue her journey to the Olympics. “[The win] has helped me a lot. It has certainly added to my self-confidence.”

She played a really important part at the 2019 SEA Games Opening Ceremony

You might recognize her as the torchbearer for the 2019 SEA Games. She lit the cauldron with Manny Pacquiao to mark the start of the games.

“Proud and honored to be part of the torch lighting for the 2019 30th sea games with the 8-time world boxing champion, the legend of boxing Senator Manny Pacman Pacquiao!” she wrote on Instagram. We can’t imagine how psyched she was to do this ceremony with her idol, but we’re pretty sure that it won’t be long before other athletes get starstruck around her, as well.

Her story was actually featured in MMK

In early 2020, Nesthy shared her life story in an episode of Maalala Mo Kaya entitled “Pangarap at Kamao.” She was played by actress Jane de Leon. If you want to learn more about her journey as a Filipina boxer, watch the full episode here.

Her win today assures the PH of at least a bronze medal

Nesthy’s win today assured us of her entry into the Top 3 of the Tokyo Olympics’ women’s boxing featherweight event. This will be the most Olympic medals the Philippines has won since the 1932 Summer Games in Los Angeles, USA.

But we know she’s definitely going for gold.

We’re rooting for you, Nesthy!

Nesthy Petecio will be competing against Irma Testa of Italy on 31 July 2021, Saturday. Should she win, she will qualify for the finals round on 3 August 2021, Tuesday.