Olympics: Breaking down Nesthy Petecio’s masterful tactics

Screenshot courtesy of: ONE Sports

There’s no other way to put it: Nesthy Petecio’s third win in Paris was a walkover.

On paper, China’s Zichun Xu was a formidable quarterfinal opponent—taller, longer, and a gold medalist at the 2019 World Military Games. What happened from bell to bell, however, was a thorough demolition at the hands of an older, wiser veteran.

If this bout were a session of Game of the Generals, Petecio would be a five-star ace that Xu could neither outlast nor hide anything from. Here’s how Petecio assured herself of a medal finish in the 2024 women’s featherweight tournament.

Tactical Warfare

While Xu had a number of physical attributes going her way, Petecio—who is four years her senior—had the clear-cut edge in Olympic experience. An even feistier version of the 2020 Tokyo Games silver medalist, Petecio handily won the chess game that unfolded in every round of this quarterfinal bout.

Case in point: On multiple occasions, when Petecio failed to land clean punches on Xu’s face, she swiftly adjusted and connected on body shots. Conversely, Xu nullified her own reach advantage in the third round when she decided to shorten the distance between her and Petecio. Instead of tipping the scales in her favor, the winded Xu ended up becoming a standing target as Petecio landed picture-perfect blows, including a right hook and a right uppercut.

Punch, Punch, Out

Remember that part about Xu being winded? Here’s another reason for that: She punched less efficiently and tired herself out. Though the Chinese fighter swung frequently in every round, she missed more than she landed, thanks to Petecio’s sweet footwork and steady defensive stance.

In another stroke of boxing genius, Petecio repeatedly demonstrated how to throw punches and get out of harm’s way in one fell swoop. Time and again, the Davao del Sur native frustrated Xu by dishing out calculated offense and immediately following up with anticipatory head movement and other evasive tactics.

Stamina, in More Ways Than One

After the first two rounds, not a single point had been docked from Petecio’s cumulative scores. Aware of her opponent’s masterful performance thus far, Xu struggled to keep her physical and mental stamina in tip-top shape for Round 3. In the last three minutes of the fight, a frustrated Xu clinched Petecio’s arms multiple times, even dragging the Pinay boxer to the ground at one point.

To her credit, Petecio didn’t allow any of these desperate maneuvers to thwart her game plan. Towards the end of the third round, she continued to engage Xu, who’d clearly run out of gas by that point. Though Xu actually managed to win on two judges’ scorecards in the final round, the more composed Petecio still claimed the round 3-2.

Less than 24 hours after Aira Villegas scored a razor-thin split decision to guarantee herself a medal, Nesthy Petecio secured her own podium finish in an entirely different way—through sheer dominance. 

And she’s not letting up any time soon.

“Walang hinto hangga’t walang ginto. So, dalawa na lang,” said an adamant Petecio in her post-fight interview. “So, hopefully, makuha na natin this time.”