Filipina boxer Aira Villegas will be taking home a bronze medal after losing the women’s 50 kg boxing semifinals in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Turkey’s Buse Naz Cakiroglu beat her after a spirited fight early Wednesday morning (philippine time) at Stade Roland Garros.
The Olympic debutante just narrowly missed a chance to obtain a silver medal as the judges scored the match 30-26, 30-26, 30-27, 30-27, 30-27.
It was a tough fight for Villegas as Cakiroglu is armed with the skills and experience. She won a silver medal in the Tokyo Olympics three years ago and is one of the top favorites in the division.
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Aira Villegas fell behind the scorecard early in the match as Buse Naz Cakiroglu landed powerful punches to the head that prompted a standing count from the Canadian referee Wade Peterson. In the second round, Villegas managed to make Cakiroglu hit the canvas after getting caught by her swift right hook. However, Peterson ruled it a slip as Cakiroglu earned the nod of all five judges.
Buse Naz Cakiroglu will be facing China’s Wu Yu in the finals, who’s been breezing through all of her three bouts by unanimous decision.
Despite losing in the semifinals, Aira Villegas exceeded expectations in her Olympic debut. After all, she’s the Philippines’ second female boxer to win an Olympic medal after her teammate Nesthy Petecio.
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The Tacloban City native defeated Morocco’s Yasmine Mouttaki and Algeria’s Roumaysa Boualam via unanimous decision. Then, managed to win a split decision over France’s Wassila Lkhadiri to reach the semifinals.
Amongst the Filipino boxers, Nesthy Petecio is the only contender remaining to fight for a gold medal. On Sunday, August 4, Petecio advanced to the semifinals of the women’s 57kg division after demolishing China’s Xu Zichun at the North Paris Arena. She will be battling Poland’s Julia Szeremeta early Thursday, August 8, at the same arena.
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