THE SCORELINE PROFILES: Who are the 5 Filipino boxers heading to the 2024 Olympics?

The Philippines prepared 5 boxing athletes who are well-trained and equipped for what could become a historic run in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Among them are veterans and newbies with one core mission: bring home coveted Olympic medals.

The Philippines are no stranger to Boxing in the Olympic Games. In 1996, 

They are of follows:

Eumir Felix Marcial

He represents the Philippines and won a silver medal during the 2019 World Championships.

Marcial managed to join and be qualified for the middleweight event for 2020 Tokyo Olympics which in the later postponed to 2021 due to the outbreak of Covid 19 Pandemic.

After advancing to the semifinals against boxer Oleksandr Khyzhniak of Ukraine, Marcial brought the first bronze medal since 1992

He was also the first Filipino boxer to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Marcial thanked his fans for believing in his abilities and hoping to continue in support in his endeavor towards the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympics. 

He has a total of boxing fights, in which 5 of these are Wins. 3 of those wins were by knockout, while Marcial continues to have a spotless record with no losses.

Aira Villegas,

Aira’s boxing career started in Tacloban City, where she learned to be tough and studied and learned boxing as her self defense.

At the age of 15 years old she kept on focusing on practice and after joining  the Boxam Elite tournament in Spain, She won her first Gold Medal.  She is being chosen for the Olympic ticket in 1st World Qualification Tournament.

However, it was her brother who encouraged her to pursue a boxing career in order for her to join in the Olympic Games.

And through this sport, they were able to manage and help their family to provide for their daily needs.

Her years of training paid off as during her stint during the In 2019 Southeast Asian Games, she won a bronze medal.

She also competed at the 2022 Asian Games which was held in Hangzhou, China, where she lost the fight with her Mongolian opponent last year. 

From the gyms in Tacloban, Aira will now take her talents to the 2024 Paris Olympics, representing the country in the women’s flyweight 50-kg competition.

Nesthy Petecio,

 Just like Aira, Nesthy was taught boxing as a means of self-defense.

At the young age of 11, Petecio had a big break in her boxing career by. Joining boxing match during the celebration of Araw ng Dabaw in 2002, a match that she eventually won.

In 2007, she competed in the Smart National Youth and Women’s Open Boxing Championship held in Cagayan De Oro City where she won a gold medal and earned the opportunity to be a part of the country’s national boxing team.

Petecio started to compete and represented the country in several international competitions, some of which was the 2014 AIBA Women’s World Championship where she obtained a silver medal.

2011 & 2013 Southeast Asian Games where she won both silver medals, the 2012 Asian Championship where she won a bronze medal, and a gold medal win in the 2015 Indonesia President’s Cup.

In 2020, Nesthy qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics due to her high competitive rankings. Her first fight was a victory against Marcelat Sakobi Matshu of the Democratic Republic of Congo but, after facing her amateur rival Sena Irie in the final, Petecio lost by unanimous decision and won the silver medal, the first Olympic boxing medal won by a Filipino boxer in 25 years.

Petecio is aiming for a her-story-making moment by trying to snag one more medal for a back-to-back medal performance in the Olympics. The hope that many for Nesthy have, is that this time, her silver turns to gold.

Carlo Paalam

Carlo joined the National Team in2013 and started competing internationally in 2016 where he earned both bronze medals during the AIBA youth Asian Championship and Asian Games in 2018.

Later, he made a debut at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after being qualified through the IOC-BTF. Paalam won a silver medal during his bout in the Men’s Flyweight division against Galal Yafai of Great Britain.

This time, Carlo’s hopes for an Olympic gold may not just be saying goodbye.

This, after Paalam qualified for the Summer Games after winning over Indian Sachin Siwach in the men’s 57kg division semifinals during the 2024 Boxing 2nd World Qualification Tournament in Bangkok, Thailand which was held on June 1.

Hergie Bacyadan

Before coming into the world of boxing, Hergie was a former martial artist and a wushu and vovinam practitioner.

Bacyadan joined the Philippine national wushu team in 2016. In 2017, she took part in the Inaugural Sanda Asian Cup and World Wushu Championship which was held in Foshan China and Russia where she earned both silver medals in a 65k-kilogram division.

During her Boxing career, it was marked when she participated in the 2019 ASBC Asian Grand Slam Boxing Championships held in Xiamen China.

Bacyadan qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris after winning her quota bout during the 2024 World Olympic Qualification Tournament against Maryelis Yriza of Venezuela - a win, which can see Hergie transcend the boundaries of what an athlete can do and achieve.

 The Philippines has seen its own level of success in boxing - one that it has achieved throughout the years. Only time can tell if the country’s Olympic successes in the sport can once again awaken the country’s successes in the sport.